Playing it Forward: UNE student finds mentor, calling through coaching internship

When Carson Roberts (Applied Exercise Science, ’27) stepped onto the field at South Portland High School this fall, he wasn’t just fulfilling his coaching minor internship requirements: He was following in the footsteps of his mentor, Jeremy Longchamp, M.S., B.S. ’18 (Applied Exercise Science), who had walked the same path at the University of New England just a decade before.

The two met, not through formal channels, but through a conversation with a UNE professor during Roberts’ first year at UNE.

“I was meeting monthly in the spring semester with Professor Heath Pierce, and I was talking about trying to get some hours shadowing strength and conditioning coaches,” said Roberts, who is from nearby Standish. “And then he mentioned Jeremy.”

Longchamp, who had just founded Southern Maine Athlete Academy and now serves as head coach for South Portland High School’s boys’ varsity soccer program, recognized something familiar in the first-year student. Both had arrived at UNE exploring different career paths before discovering their true calling in coaching and athletic development.

“I would definitely say, with Carson, I see a little bit of myself in him,” said Longchamp, reflecting on how Andy Halligan, now UNE’s assistant men’s soccer coach, took him under his wing when Longchamp was younger — and how he hoped to pay, and even play, it forward. 

Roberts said their shared experience created an immediate bond that extended beyond soccer tactics and training plans. 

“It’s a really neat experience for me,” Roberts said. “If I ever have any questions about anything UNE related, he often can give me the answer … because he knows exactly what I’m going through.”

What set the internship apart was the level of responsibility Roberts assumed. He set up drills, led team warmups, managed goalkeeper training sessions, and operated the game film camera while tracking comprehensive statistics.

Longchamp’s mentorship approach involved giving Roberts space to grow while remaining available for guidance. 
“Carson has stepped up big,” Longchamp said, noting that, as a small business owner, his schedule was tight. “He’s there early. He stays late. And he’s become that coach, or mentor, if you will, for the players.”

The results spoke for themselves: with Longchamp as head coach and Roberts as his assistant, South Portland finished its regular season 11-3, including a crucial victory over a second-place team. 

But for Roberts, the real victory lay in connecting his classroom learning to practice.

“It’s pretty apparent having gone through now a lot of the coaching minor classes and then seeing the way Jeremy coaches, it’s like, oh, that’s where he got that from,” he said.

Beyond technical skills, Roberts said he gained practical tools that will serve him throughout his career. 

“I’m learning how to communicate and work with people, especially people of different ages,” he said. “Getting communication skills with various age groups — officials and parents, they’re all older than me — is really important considering the job I want to pursue.”

Katie Hawke M.S., a clinical professor and coaching minor coordinator in the Westbrook College of Health Professions, said authentic connections between current students and graduates transform career readiness into meaningful professional growth.

“When alumni mentor current students, they bring experiences that enrich the student’s learning in powerful ways,” Hawke said. “Jeremy and Carson’s mentor-mentee experience demonstrates exactly what we hope to achieve: growth that extends beyond the campus and creates a lasting network of support.”

Longchamp agreed, adding that internships are an opportunity to see whether the student wants to pursue a specific pathway early, and he hoped Roberts walked away better informed about the next steps of his career. 

“I hope that, every day at the internship, he just gets a little bit better and he leaves the internship as a better coach than he started,” Longchamp said. 

For Roberts, the path forward was becoming clearer, and he has set his sights on pursuing a graduate assistantship in strength and conditioning at the collegiate level to work in professional sports after graduation.

“No one works harder than Carson,” Longchamp said. “He just puts his head down and goes above and beyond with everything that he does and every chance that he gets. He’s got a really bright future ahead of him.”