Chesterland native Sam Sarver recently signed a first team Major League Soccer (MLS) contract with FC Dallas for the remainder of 2025 and throughout the 2026 season with club options for 2027 and 2028.
Chesterland native Sam Sarver recently signed a first team Major League Soccer (MLS) contract with FC Dallas for the remainder of 2025 and throughout the 2026 season with club options for 2027 and 2028.
Playing his college soccer at Indiana University, Sarver was drafted 41st in the second round of the 2025 MLS Superdraft.
After being drafted, Sarver began his career with FC Dallas’ affiliate North Texas SC in the MLS Next Pro League.
On July 4, Sarver began his MLS career with FC Dallas, and in his second MLS contest for FC Dallas on July 19, he drew a penalty kick to help his team defeat St. Louis City SC, 3-0.
Sarver recounted this amazing moment.
“Obviously winning the PK was a super-big highlight for me just because it was my first actual contribution to a match and I got to express myself to the fans, which I thought was really cool,” Sarver said.
Growing Up in Chesterland and Geauga County
Long before becoming a professional soccer player in the MLS, Sarver grew up playing soccer in Chesterland.
For Sarver, growing up in Chesterland was very meaningful.
“My dad still lives in the same house I grew up in,” he said, “so it’s very nostalgic. Some of my core memories are being so close to Hawken High School and just going up there and playing (soccer), whenever that may be.”
Sarver’s father, Dave, recalled his early experiences with the sport of soccer and growing up in Chesterland and Geauga County.
When Sam and his sister, Sydney, were young, Dave said the family enjoyed a lot of outdoor recreational activities, like riding ATVs and tractors, on their farm in Newbury.
The family attended The Great Geauga County Fair every year and spent time together at The West Woods Nature Center.
Dave recalled that when Sam was 4 and a half, Sam and his mother, Lori, were driving somewhere when Sam saw kids playing soccer from the car window.
“(Sam said), ‘Mom, hey, what’s that,’ and she said soccer, and he said, ‘I want to do that,’ ” Dave recalled.
Soon after, Lori signed Sam up for an area recreational soccer league.
Dave said he’ll never forget the amoeba-like formations that would form on the field when Sam began playing soccer. The players would swarm after the ball, and Sam would emerge from a pack of players and head down to the other side of the field to score.
“I remember, at 4 and half, he would be at his own goal and he would end up with the ball and he would bolt around the outside, run the whole field, and blast it in the goal around the amoeba,” Dave said. “Sam just knew how to (have a) ‘nose for the goal’ at 4 and a half. And to this day, that’s his success, he’s got a ‘nose for the goal.’ ”
At that point, Sam’s father built a soccer field outside of the family’s home for his children to play and train on.
“At the bottom (of the hill outside our house) there was a flat spot, and there was a creek with waterfalls and a gully, and I went out and bought a tractor and I irrigated this flat spot,” Dave said. “I reclaimed this land and I built a soccer field, and I put up a 20-foot-high net with the tree line on the edge of the gully.
“We never lost a ball.”
When he reflects upon these early years, Dave said he knows those were amazing experiences that contributed greatly to Sam’s success.
“Those were golden moments of community,” Dave said. “Having a community around you that offers opportunities for kids to play soccer or to play violin, or whatever it is, (is important for development). It takes a village, (and) we’re all contributors to that.”
Club Soccer With Cleveland Select
Living near Hawken, the Sarvers were aware of the great success of Hawks Head Boys Soccer Coach Dani Giulvezan.
Thus, Sam began to play soccer for Coach Giulvezan’s club, Cleveland Select, which trained at Hawken.
In addition to his memories of Cleveland Select, Sarver fondly remembers having dinner at Guido’s Pizza Haven Restaurant on Chillicothe Road and getting dessert at the Dairy Queen across the street.
“My family and I would get (Guido’s) so much,” he said. “That whole little area in the township, there’s that Dairy Queen and then across the street there’s Guido’s. Those are the memories I have a lot of, just because I love that food so much. It was such a big part of my childhood.”
After starting club soccer with Cleveland Select, Sarver joined AC Premier, where he was coached by Zel Murasic, a former Cleveland State soccer player and college soccer coach at Miami University and Lakeland Community College.
High School and College Years
Sarver’s high school years were unique, as he attended four different schools.
As an elite athlete, he was part of the Columbus Crew SC Academy and also competed as part of the U16 U.S. Youth National Soccer Team.
After high school, Sarver played soccer for Indiana University.
“Indiana was an unbelievable time as well, (and) I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said.
Playing at Indiana worked out well, Sarver said, since it was far enough for him to feel like he was away from home but close enough for his dad to travel from Chesterland.
“It was cool to have him at most of the games,” Sarver said.
Signing a Professional Soccer Contract with FC Dallas
Sarver said that getting drafted by FC Dallas was a dream come true: “Getting drafted was obviously one of my dreams, and they (FC Dallas) made that come true.”
Then he was offered a second team contract to play for North Texas FC.
“I told myself to put my head down and work and see where it goes,” he said. “(With) Dallas, I’m super fortunate and blessed to end up here. It’s a club that rewards their second team players if you perform, which is really important. And obviously they did.
“It’s an incredible feeling to actually say you’re an MLS player, because it’s something I dreamed of since I was little.”
For those aspiring to similar goals and hoping to go pro, Sarver offers these words of wisdom.
“Number one thing I’d say is: dream very, very big, Because even if you don’t accomplish that specific dream, if you fall short, you can still accomplish something incredible. Definitely dream big, overshoot your goals.
“As long as there is a percent (who become professional athletes), it could happen to you as well. If it’s not zero (percent), it can happen to anyone. You just got to believe it. You’re only going to be as good as you tell yourself you can be.”
