Soccer Star Proud to Be a Michigan Man
September 4, 2026
Originally Published in The Jewish News HERE
After being sidelined by an injury, Guy Michaeli is ready to play.
After a long year of recovering from torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, Guy Michaeli is ready to make an immediate impact for the University of Michigan Men’s Soccer Team.
“I committed to Michigan because I love the coaching staff and the school,” Michaeli said. “There are so many Jewish students at the University of Michigan and that played a big role in my decision to come here. The ‘Block M’ is such a successful program, not just athletic-wise but in the world. Our standards for winning are set so high.”
Michaeli, a 20-year-old forward, tore both of those ligaments during the second game of the 2025 season — a 1-1 tie against Notre Dame in Ann Arbor. It was Michaeli’s first career start, and he played 41 minutes in the game.
A sport management major at University of Michigan, Michaeli stays involved with Chabad and the Jewish Resource Center on campus.
“I’m proud of my heritage and religion,” Michaeli said. “I spread knowledge about Judaism even though I may not be considered very religious.”
Michaeli is also part of Tribe NIL, a name, image and likeness collective for Jewish college athletes founded by Jeremy Moses and Eitan Levine. Tribe NIL also includes U-M’s men’s basketball player Harrison Hochberg and women’s lacrosse player Zoe Martin.
“Tribe NIL and Jeremy helped me organize a speech at the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills,” Michaeli said. “A survivor spoke. I brought 10 of my teammates along and they sat and listened to the survivors’ stories.”
On the pitch, Michaeli hopes to lead the Wolverines to a Big 10 title, and ultimately, a national championship. Michigan last won the Big 10 regular season title in 2017, and the Wolverines won the conference tournament in 2010. Michaeli made his season debut when Michigan hosted Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Aug. 30.
Michaeli arrived in Ann Arbor from Israel, where he played a year of professional soccer for Hapoel Tel Aviv, his favorite team from childhood. Michaeli has Israeli citizenship through his father, Menachem, who grew up there.
Born in Dallas, Michaeli also lived in New York and Tokyo as a child. He returned to Dallas as a fourth-grader and played competitive soccer for the Dallas Texans.
He was recruited to Sporting Kansas City’s Major League Soccer (MLS) Academy program — a feeder for the professional franchise — just before his sophomore year of high school.
Michaeli went to high school in suburban Kansas City while playing soccer for the Sporting KC Academy.
He accepted an offer to play for Hapoel Tel Aviv but decided that playing NCAA soccer would be the best opportunity at this time.
“I still have a great connection with Hapoel Tel Aviv after playing a year and a half with them,” Michaeli said.
Michaeli hopes to play professionally in Israel after college. His time in Tel Aviv wasn’t his first time playing there. Michaeli played in the 2022 Maccabiah Games when he was 16 years old.
“Playing soccer in Israel and doing all of the classic Birthright activities was amazing,” Michaeli said. “Visiting Masada and the Western Wall were special. I had the chance to experience that with a lot of kids who hadn’t previously been connected to their Judaism.”
