Rhett Anthony Bernstein (born September 10, 1987) is an American former
soccer player.
In 2009, he won the
Hermann Trophy
The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players.
History
In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...
. He played for
Sevilla FC Puerto Rico
Sevilla FC Puerto Rico was a Puerto Rican professional association football team based in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2006, the team used to play in the Puerto Rico Soccer League. The club was founded in 2006 as a farm team for the Puerto R ...
,
Mjøndalen
Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva.
History
Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most ...
, and
Miami FC
The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 s ...
.
Early and personal life
Bernstein was born in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, and is Jewish.
As a teenager, he played soccer for the La Jolla Nomads.
He attended
University City High School in San Diego.
Club career
While playing soccer at
Brown University, Bernstein was named to the 2008 ''
Jewish Sports Review
''Jewish Sports Review (JSR)'' is a bi-monthly magazine that was established in 1997. Its editors are Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman.
The magazine identifies which star and professional athletes are Jewish. It also covers and has all-time lists ...
'' All-America First-Team, along with
Zac MacMath
Zachary Michael MacMath (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper in Major League Soccer for Real Salt Lake. MacMath was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union. ...
and
Daniel Steres
Daniel Steres (born November 11, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo. He was USL-Pro All-League Second Team in 2013 and 2014, USL All-League First Team in 2015, a ...
.
He was nominated twice for the
Hermann Trophy
The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players.
History
In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...
, given to the best male college soccer player in America.
In 2009, he won the Hermann Trophy.
He played for Team USA at the
2009 Maccabiah Games
The 18th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-18 ישראל תשס"ט), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Ol ...
in Israel.
The team finished fifth in the Games.
After graduating from Brown in 2009, Bernstein spent time in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, training with
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.
Maccabi World Union, Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי תל אביב; ''Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Tel Aviv'') is an Israeli association football, football club from Tel Aviv and part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv, ...
Bernstein joined
Sevilla FC Puerto Rico
Sevilla FC Puerto Rico was a Puerto Rican professional association football team based in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2006, the team used to play in the Puerto Rico Soccer League. The club was founded in 2006 as a farm team for the Puerto R ...
to participate in the
SúperCopa DirecTV 2010 before moving to Europe.
Bernstein joined
Mjøndalen
Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva.
History
Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most ...
's first-team squad ahead of the 2011 season. He scored his first goals for Mjøndalen against
Tromsø
Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.
Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the 21s ...
on May 9, 2015. They won the game 4–3. Bernstein led Mjøndalen in scoring in 2015 with 5 goals from his center back position, which was also the most goals of all defenders in the Tippligaen.
After five years in Norway, Bernstein signed with expansion
Miami FC
The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 s ...
ahead of the
2016 North American Soccer League season
The 2016 North American Soccer League season is the 49th season of Division II soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 6th season of the modern North American Soccer League.
Three expansion clubs joined the league, with Miami FC and R ...
.
He chose uniform number 18, saying: "I want to wear number 18, ''
Chai'', meaning life
n Hebrew
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
to express both my strong Jewish identity as well as a long career with Miami FC."
Career statistics
See also
*
List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Rhett
1987 births
Living people
American soccer players
American expatriate soccer players
Jewish American sportspeople
Maccabiah Games competitors for the United States
Maccabiah Games footballers
Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games
Mjøndalen IF players
Miami FC players
Eliteserien players
Norwegian First Division players
North American Soccer League players
Soccer players from San Diego
American expatriate sportspeople in Norway
Expatriate footballers in Norway
Association football defenders
21st-century American Jews