Off the Pitch presented by Marie Henderson Team, the preferred real estate partner of the Philadelphia Union, is a new content series that takes a deeper dive into players' lives at home and off the field.
Philadelphia Union defender Nate Harriel is a long way from his hometown of Oldsmar, Florida but it doesn’t feel so far surrounded by memories of home in his new apartment in Old City.
Harriel moved into his spot in April after spending time living in Wilmington, Delaware, where several of his Union teammates still reside. He hoped to find a safe, relatively quiet, and walkable neighborhood in the city, but growing up more than 1000 miles south, he didn’t know where to start. That’s where the Marie Henderson Team came in, ensuring he found a place best suited for him and his needs.
“When I first told my mom I was moving into the city, she was so scared because she’s from South Dakota. My mom is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and my dad is from Mobile, Alabama. They grew up in the middle of nowhere, they’ve never lived in a big city – the biggest city they’ve lived in is Tampa,” Harriel said.
Philadelphia has seven times the population of both of his parents native towns – according to the United States Census, each had less than 200,000 residents in 2021. Their apprehension about his big city living ambitions was unsurprising, but it took just two apartment tours for Marie Henderson Team to sell Harriel on a location that put both him and his parents at ease.
“When I moved into Old City and my mom came here, she felt safe, comfortable, and she felt better about it all,” Harriel said.
“Marie Henderson Team made everything so easy. The process was smooth and it didn’t take long at all to find what I was looking for. It’s great to have somewhere to come back and feel safe at night. We were in Atlanta, then home for two days, LA for three days, home for a day then Nashville. After that, I just want to get to my own bed.”
Having a comfortable set-up has made all the difference for the 22-year-old, who joined the Union as a homegrown player in July 2020 after the team acquired his homegrown rights from Orlando City SC in exchange for a first round 2021 MLS SuperDraft pick.
It’s also a big step for Harriel – his first living arrangement upon arriving in the greater Philadelphia area to attend YSC Academy was a bed in a packed house with 11 other players. Every year, Cecilia Gil honorably volunteers to house a gaggle of youth players that chose to move away from their hometowns to chase their soccer dreams in the Union’s Pathway to the Pros.
“I don't know if you guys know how much Cecilia does. She drives us everywhere, she cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner and she does laundry. We had no responsibility in that house besides just make your bed and go for training,” Harriel said.
Since leaving Florida midway through his senior year of high school to pursue his aspirations of playing professional soccer, Harriel’s days have been filled with spending time in a new place with new people, but when he looks around his apartment, he’s reminded of home.
Harriel’s walls are decorated with a curated collection of reminders of Florida, like a pair of framed Tampa Bay Times newspaper clippings written about the Lightning’s 2021 Stanley Cup campaign.
Another features a massive three-panel photo of Tampa’s vibrant city skyline. Behind his couch is an intersection of Florida and Philly – a bright blue custom skateboard adorned with a sketch of Harriel himself, given to him by an artistically inclined fan at a Union match in Orlando.
“It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve gotten from a fan,” Harriel said, showing off his handpicked selection of decor.
He motioned toward a large painting of rapper J-Cole made by Boca Raton-based artist called Mink.
“That was my first art piece I bought for my place – a kid I used to play soccer with stopped playing soccer and started making a bunch of art, so I have a piece. Matt Real has a piece. He's made some pieces for Tyler Adams on the U.S. Men’s National team – big time players.”
Meaningful jerseys are hanging up there too. One is from his first Major League Soccer goal against Atlanta on August 31, 2022, when he became the 10th-ever homegrown to score for the club. The other is from even earlier in his career, his first-team debut on September 3, 2021.
“Having memories like this and being able to see things from home, that's probably made the biggest difference for me,” Harriel said.
When he sinks into his couch after an away stretch with the team, grabbing a controller to play video games with teammates Matt Real and Jack McGlynn, he's joined by his Aussiedoodle, Bear, who he adopted last October.
“Oh, he’s 50 pounds. He’s just fluff.” With multiple dog parks close by and innumerable green spaces to explore on walks around the city, Bear loves the new digs, too.
“I walk everywhere. It’s so much nicer. I don’t mind sightseeing, just me and the dog will go out for a walk, post up by a bench, and watch people walk by. And almost everyone in this building has a dog. They’ve even had a few dog gatherings in the common areas which is nice,” Harriel said.
“Down by Penn's Landing, there's a dog run, and there’s a park in Northern Liberties that’s always packed. He wakes up at seven, I wake up then anyways. I take him outside real quick. We'll come back, he’ll go to sleep, after training we’ll go for a walk. We’re on the same schedule,” Harriel said.
When he’s not accompanied by Bear, Harriel hops on his electric scooter, zooming to his favorite eats, namely Race Street Cafe and Fairmount Flavors.
There is one place Harriel does have to get in his car to get to, though, aside from his Union responsibilities.
“I’m in a serious bowling league. We all have our own balls – there’s a place called Laurel Lanes in New Jersey, and this guy knows everything about balls that you need to know about. We bowl at a place called Pensetters in Jersey. It’s me, Chris Donovan, Jeremy Rafanello and his brother. If we’re not there, we have our subs. There’s an 8 man roster,” Harriel said.
Who’s the best among the Union trio?
“It’s between me and Rafa. Chris has his moments,” Harriel said.
“My record is 221. It was the best game I’ve ever bowled in my life and haven’t been close to it since. This league on Tuesday night is the most serious thing I’ve ever been involved in.”
One might quickly attribute Harriel’s bowling aptitude to his elite athleticism. He did begin playing sports at four years old, after all, when his Mom chose to take his boundless energy out of the house and to the pitch.
“My dad coached football for like 20 plus years, so I’d always have football passes with him. Then I just started playing soccer and then it just kept going and kept going, and all of the sudden, every other sport just stopped. I played baseball. I played football. I ran track. I did everything I could possibly do. But I just stuck with soccer.”
But it’s not the year-round sports training throughout his entire youth that built his bowling skill – though it likely does help. Instead, like most things in Harriel’s life, he gives all the credit to his family.
“My grandma and grandpa at home were in a bowling league. Runs in the family. My mom and my brother are good too, my brother bowls like a 180. It’s weird – out of all things I’d pick up it’s bowling,” Harriel said.
“They had league night on Tuesday and we’d just be chilling there.”
In March 2023, Harriel signed a new contract with the team, agreeing to a deal that would keep him around through 2025, with a team option for 2026. Harriel will be in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future, and Marie Henderson Team made certain that he found a place that feels like home.
