Balancing a life between soccer and pursuing a degree in computer science wasn鈥檛 always easy for Sadie Sider-Echenberg. But the midfielder for the USF Bulls women鈥檚 soccer team found a middle ground that allowed her to excel at both.
She graduated in December with her bachelor鈥檚 degree from the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, and received an Outstanding Graduate Award.
She鈥檚 had her share of athletic accolades, too.
In both 2024 and 2025 she was named to the American Conference All-Conference First Team, College Sports Communicators Academic All-District and United Soccer Coaches All-Region Third Team. And in 2024 she earned American Conference Midfielder of the Year honors.
Now she faces finding balance in a post-graduate life. This time it鈥檚 between professional soccer and a career in the tech field, and she doesn鈥檛 want to turn her back on either.
While she鈥檚 been at home for less than a month, and has barely unpacked, she鈥檚 about to sign a contract to play with a team in Sweden. The experience is one she can鈥檛 pass up, she said, but she also plans to pursue a career in the world of computing.
鈥淭hat is kind of where my head is at,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 really enjoyed getting my degree. I don鈥檛 want to stay removed from it for too long.鈥�
How does a student-athlete balance sports and a computer science major?
Sider-Echenberg was recruited from her home in Ottawa, Canada, to play for the Bulls.
She wanted to play soccer but didn鈥檛 know what degree to pursue.
鈥淚 was kind of all over the place,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 liked STEM. I liked engineering, but it was the idea of engineering. I hadn鈥檛 really experienced much of it in high school.鈥�
At the recommendation of her brother鈥檚 best friend, she looked at computer science.
鈥淚 really knew nothing,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e described it as 鈥榓 degree for people who like to solve problems and math.鈥� And, well, I liked those things.鈥�
Once she began taking courses, she knew she made the right choice. She enjoyed her general education courses as much as the computing classes.
鈥淚 got to take oceanography, introduction to drugs and crime, philosophy, kind of random and different classes,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I really like that this was part of the degree. It鈥檚 something I don鈥檛 think I would have had the opportunity to do if I had done my computer science degree in Canada.鈥�
A summer of Google, Microsoft and soccer
Fast forward two years and Sider-Echenberg landed an internship with Red Cloud Consulting in Seattle, where she lived with a host family. Red Cloud had ties to big companies, and the experience opened her eyes to real-world applications for her degree, and a possible solution to also pursue her athletic passion.
She worked during the day, and she trained with the team in the early morning hours or in the evenings. Games were at night or on the weekend, and the company was flexible with her schedule.
鈥淚 was able to do consulting work for Google and Microsoft,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he experience made me realize that there are opportunities to work remotely in the industry, not in maybe the same manner, but a lot of my colleagues were working all over the world.鈥�
At first, she helped streamline processes, and as she became more comfortable, she began to help with external projects. On one project, she helped the consultants with a presentation for Microsoft that allowed a live, voting interaction. As questions were asked and answered, the responses populated on a dashboard.
Sider-Echenberg also worked on a data engineering project for Google.
鈥淚'm very lucky that all my colleagues really wanted to help me learn,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wouldn't have been able to just jump into it. It was such a great time.鈥�
A Swedish future
The internship helped Sider-Echenberg see that she could pursue a professional soccer career and still work in computer science.
For now, soccer is taking the immediate lead in her life as she prepares for her move to Europe. With her degree in hand, Sider-Echenberg views her next step as an opportunity to immerse herself fully in the professional game, knowing her computer science background will give her options in the future.
鈥淚 think there are avenues for me to stay involved in the industry.鈥�
鈥淚 loved playing soccer at USF. There鈥檚 a lot of opportunities opening up for women to play professionally in North America that didn't exist before,鈥� she said.
But the culture surrounding soccer in Europe calls to her.
鈥淭hese women leagues have been around for 15 or 20 years and produce incredible players. They get fans at the games. It's really the sport, the one everyone is passionate about 鈥� and I will get to do that without forgoing my future in computing.鈥�