Belin
Mike Keating

Camryn Belin: Bringing an athletic family legacy to the Women’s Soccer program

BANNER ELK, N.C. – When your father is a former NFL assistant coach and Division I student-athlete at Wake Forest and your mother is a former Division I track and field coach and student-athlete at Texas A&M, it is only natural that sports become a big part of your life.  

Take Camryn Belin, a freshman on the women’s soccer team, who grew up having to share her parents with a countless number of student-athletes, and even professional athletes, over the years. 

My father coached for the Carolina Panthers during my fourth-grade year and he has been at many different schools, including SMU, where my parents both coached, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. My mother coached at SMU and Vanderbilt as a jumps coach.
- Camryn Belin

Camryn’s father, Warren, and mother, Yolanda, who are currently the linebackers coach at Howard University and biorepository coordinator at Wake Forest Baptist Health respectively, were interested in getting their oldest daughter involved in sports at a young age. 

Naturally, both parents initially thought she would like to follow in her mother’s footsteps by participating in track and field. However, Belin had other ideas.

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Belin's mother, Yolanda, is a former Division I track and field coach at SMU and Vanderbilt.

“I started playing soccer at the age of four because of a friend I saw play and have loved it ever since,” said Belin. “My mother was open to me playing soccer, because of her playing it when she was younger, but was excited when I joined the track and field team in middle school.”

After playing both sports for a few years, Belin turned to soccer when she decided to play for the North Carolina Fusion Elite club team. It was here that Warren Belin gave his daughter a piece of advice that has stuck with her to this day.

My dad would always say ‘play hard, play fast, play smart’ and ‘you have to finish hard and practice like you play in a game’. I guess they knew how the coaches thought – they expected me to be coachable. They always told me to be able to play wherever. They understood the different levels an athlete goes through and there were times where I didn’t feel the best. They were able to help me through it because they have gone through the same thing.
- Camryn Belin

One of the other things that Belin reflects on from her time competing for West Forsyth High School and her club team is how her athletic career was a little different from the average player. 

“I think the main difference between my experience and some of friends’ experiences was being able to handle a lot of pressure,” said Belin. “Regular parents only know so much about the sport and are not as used to seeing themselves in the player’s shoes. Since my parents were there, the pressure of making sure you do the best that you can, really helped me manage pressure.”

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Belin's father, Warren, was an assistant coach with the Carolina Panthers, Tennessee, SMU and Vanderbilt among other.

After closing out her career at West Forsyth, Belin was recruited by Lees-McRae Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach Erin Barcal to come join the Bobcats in Banner Elk. 

“Soccer originally got me to Lees-McRae,” said Belin. “However, it was the nature view and the environment around Banner Elk, which was different than my hometown, that sold me on the campus when I came and toured it.”

Belin also attributed her recruitment to Lees-McRae as a testament to her father’s recruiting experience. 

My dad was able to help me during my recruiting process and he tells his friends that he was able to help my daughter be recruited, after helping so many young men find the college of their dreams.
- Camryn Belin

Even though Belin’s first season as a member of the Lees-McRae women’s soccer program was postponed to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Head Women’s Soccer Coach Cally Morrill had the opportunity to see Belin play firsthand in the Green & White scrimmages. 

“Camryn has ventured into her freshman year with every notion of being the best teammate possible,” said Morrill. “She came to campus in August and blew the doors off the fitness tests, making a big impact and statement for what she plans to do while at Lees-McRae. Off the field, you can’t help but notice Camryn’s kind and warm infectious spirit, which is quite opposite from her style of play in the back line: strong, fierce and tough as nails.”

Belin will be suiting up for the Bobcats during the upcoming women’s soccer season and will undoubtedly will receive a few pointers from her lifelong coaches, Warren and Yolanda.   

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