COLUMBUS – Columbus Crew today announced that it has signed Crew Academy product and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill midfielder Sebastian Berhalter as a Homegrown Player. Berhalter joins Aidan Morris as the second Crew Academy player to sign a Homegrown Player contract with the Crew this year.
“We are excited to welcome Sebastian to the Crew First Team,” said President and General Manager
Tim Bezbatchenko. “As a longtime member of the Crew Academy, Sebastian is someone who understands the values and ideology of our Club. We are happy to see him join the professional ranks after a successful year at the college level and look forward to his continued development with the Crew.”
Berhalter made 16 appearances for the North Carolina Tar Heels as a freshman in 2019. Before his time with the Tar Heels, Berhalter played for Crew Academy from 2014-2019, featuring for the Under-13/14, U-15/16, U-16/17 and U-18/19 sides. The midfielder made a total of 103 appearances (97 starts) and scored 11 goals for the Black & Gold. Notably, Berhalter helped Crew Academy finish third at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-19 Tournament for the 2017-2018 season.
The midfielder joined the Crew First Team during its preseason camps in 2019, featuring in a Carolina Challenge Cup match against the Charleston Battery on February 20, 2019. At the international level, Berhalter has featured for the U.S. U-16 Men’s National Team. Notably, he is the son of current U.S. Men’s National Team Head Coach and former Crew Head Coach Gregg Berhalter.
The Crew's 2020 MLS preseason training begins on January 20 in Chula Vista, California, following entrance physicals and testing. From there, the club departs to Cancun, Mexico on January 29 before traveling to Tucson, Arizona on February 10 to participate in the 2020 Visit Tucson Sun Cup.
The Black & Gold begin the 2020 MLS regular season at MAPFRE Stadium against New York City FC, on Sunday, March 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Tickets to all matches on the Crew home schedule are available now online at
ColumbusCrew.com or via phone. For access to purchasing FC Cincinnati tickets, call 614-447-CREW. Local broadcast and promotional schedule information will be released at a later date.
With the addition of Berhalter, the Crew's current 2020 roster – listed alphabetically below – now stands at 25 players. Crew 2020 MLS SuperDraft selections Miguel Berry, Remi Prieur and Danny Griffin will join the team in preseason as unsigned.
Goalkeepers (3):
Jon Kempin, Matt Lampson, Eloy Room
Defenders (9): Harrison Afful, Chris Cadden, Waylon Francis, Aboubacar Keita, Jonathan Mensah, Axel Sjoberg, Milton Valenzuela, Josh Williams, Vito Wormgoor
Midfielders (10): Artur, Sebastian Berhalter, Luis Diaz, Hector Jimenez, Youness Mokhtar, Aidan Morris, Darlington Nagbe, Pedro Santos, Wil Trapp, Lucas Zelarayan
Forwards (3): Jordan Hamilton, JJ Williams, Gyasi Zardes
TRANSACTION: Columbus Crew signs midfielder and Crew SC Academy product Sebastian Berhalter as a Homegrown Player on January 17, 2020.
Name: Sebastian Berhalter
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 155
Born: May 10, 2001 in London, England
Hometown: Westerville, Ohio
Citizenship: United States
Acquired: Signed as a Homegrown Player on January 17, 2020.
Previous Experience: North Carolina Tar Heels (2019)
