Kyle Smith ’14, who became the first Transylvania University Pioneer to play Major League Soccer, recently joined his hometown club FC Cincinnati. He’s also one of the newest inductees into the Pioneer Hall of Fame.
Transylvania Athletics will honor Smith along with the 2006 men’s basketball team, Dr. Shannon Florea ’99 and Nicole Coffman Sanders ’15 at a celebration April 24 at 5 p.m. in the William T. Young Campus Center.
Smith, who played for the Pioneers from 2010-13, set numerous program records while helping lead Transylvania to three consecutive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season titles. The Pioneers also advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2010 and 2012.
Primarily a defender, Smith signed with Orlando City SC in 2018, spending seven seasons there before returning to Ohio.
“I’m back in Cincinnati, which is the team I’ve been wanting to play for,” Smith said. “Getting to play for my hometown team … that’s a highlight for me.”
He began thinking seriously about a professional career around his sophomore year at Transylvania. “That’s when I really started working toward that goal of doing a lot more training on my own and in the off-season — and then joining some other leagues in the off-season.”
Smith is the school’s all-time leader in points (110), goals (47), points per game (1.43), goals per game (0.61) and game-winning goals (15). He also ranks second in career assists (16) and set back-to-back season program records of 40 and 44 points. Smith was named HCAC Most Valuable Offensive Player in 2012 and 2013.
He keeps up with the current soccer program via social media and offered advice to players looking to follow the same path. “Anything is possible,” he said. “Believe in yourself. If you have a goal that you want to pursue, I would just say work toward it as best you can and as hard as you can. You might think it’s unreachable, but it doesn’t mean that it is.”
Playing Division III provided Smith an opportunity to face good competition while getting the playing time he needed in his early years. “Maybe I wouldn’t have gotten that at a big Division I school,” he said.
On his induction to his alma mater’s Hall of Fame, Smith said he feels honored.
He noted how there have been many good players throughout the program’s history — and that he’s thankful he chose Transy. “It was a great platform for me to learn about myself, and obviously the education there is really good.”
After graduating as an accounting major, Smith worked in the field at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine before launching his professional soccer career. He played for the Cincinnati Dutch Lions in the Premier Development League from 2014-15 and spent three seasons with Louisville City SC in the United Soccer League. During his time in Orlando, the squad made the playoffs six times in a row; before that, the team hadn’t reached the MLS playoffs at all.
Now Smith enjoys being back in his hometown. “The Midwest is nice,” he said. “I missed it. It’s nice to get proper seasons.”
Photo: FC Cincinnati