Today we’d like to introduce you to Waleed Cherif.
Hi Waleed, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
If I had to describe my story in one word, it would be resilience.
I was born and raised in Algeria, where resilience is part of our culture. Our history, our families, and even our love for soccer all reflect that. Soccer wasn’t just something I played, it was part of who I was. When my family immigrated to the United States, I carried that passion with me.
I started in recreational soccer, worked my way through club then into a top academy, was invited to U.S. U-17 National Team Training Centers, and earned several Division I opportunities. Even won the 6A State Championship with Coppell HS. But growing up in an immigrant household, education always came first. My mom wanted me to become an engineer, so I chose to attend UT Austin to study mechanical engineering to make my mother proud.
School is for some, but school was not for me although I was top of my class. I realized I couldn’t imagine my life without soccer. I joined a semi-professional team, was named league MVP after scoring 14 goals in 11 games, and that season earned me another chance to chase my dream. I received a call from a small d2 school, West Liberty, that had been keeping up with me. Within a day of the call, I dropped out of UT and I transferred to West Liberty within a days notice, and J made All-Conference in my one and only semester. This earned me a transfer to a D1 school, Duquesne University. I finished my college career at Duquesne University before signing professional contracts in both the U.S. and Algeria and Mauritania.
Today, my greatest passion is passing everything I’ve learned on to the next generation. I’m the Upper School girls’ coach at Greenhill School and the Director of Coaching at a small independent club Texas Thunder, where I get to develop players and mentor coaches. Watching a young player fall in love with the game is just as rewarding as scoring goals ever was.
Outside of soccer, I love saying yes to new experiences, I’m even appearing on one of the biggest TV shows later this year. And through every chapter of my journey, my wife and our Doberman, our “son,” have been my biggest source of support.
Looking back, my path hasn’t been linear, but every challenge has led me exactly where I’m supposed to be.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Soccer is a game of extremely high highs and very low lows, and I’ve experienced both.
One of the hardest parts was choosing to fully chase my dream and abandon what my mother wanted for me. Coming from an immigrant family, my mom wanted me to prioritize education and build a stable career. When I stepped away from school to pursue soccer, we lost our relationship for a few years. I didn’t have a place to call home and was bouncing from house to house, trying to stay focused on the dream I believed in. Shoutout Grant Michaels for helping me during this time.
Along the way, I’ve had people tell me I wasn’t good enough. My high school coach told me during my senior year that I wasn’t at the level to play at the next stage, and mentally that was tough. But two years later, I became one of the few players from that team to earn a Division I opportunity.
The challenges continued into my professional career. I traveled across the world for trials, sometimes getting released and watching opportunities disappear. I also suffered a major ankle injury where I tore five ligaments right after transferring to Duquesne and having an incredible preseason. Being unable to play took away a huge part of my identity. When your dream is to play professionally, every month you’re injured feels like time you can’t get back.
But those moments shaped me. They taught me resilience, patience, and the importance of continuing to believe in yourself when others don’t. Those lessons are now the foundation of how I coach and mentor the next generation.
As you know, we’re big fans of Touchline Tekkers. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Touchline Tekkers started as a creative outlet before it became a soccer academy. It began as my YouTube channel, where I combined two of my passions: soccer and media. I loved editing and creating content around the game, and that channel grew to over 1 million views. As life became busier and I began chasing my own playing career, I stepped away from content creation but I always knew I wanted to come back to it in some way.
Now, Touchline Tekkers has come full circle and evolved into a player development academy. I really do want to incorporate more social media to it. I work with athletes who are serious about improving, helping them develop their technical ability, confidence, and understanding of the game. I offer private training and group sessions, but more importantly, I focus on working with players who have goals, a strong work ethic, and the willingness to make sacrifices to reach the next level.
What sets Touchline Tekkers apart is the personal connection I bring from my own journey. I’ve been the player chasing the dream, facing setbacks, being doubted, and finding a way forward. I know what it takes both on and off the field, and I try to give players the guidance I wish I had when I was younger.
Most of my athletes find me through my soccer platforms, including my Instagram pages @algerianwalls and @touchlinetekkers, as well as through players I’ve coached in other environments. I’m proud that the brand has grown organically through trust, relationships, and results.
At the end of the day, Touchline Tekkers is about more than soccer training. It’s about helping young players fall in love with the game, believe in themselves, and develop the habits needed to chase their goals.,
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The quality that has been most important to my success is resilience. To me, resilience is having the ability to keep believing in yourself when there’s no guarantee things will work out.
Throughout my journey, I’ve been doubted, faced setbacks, dealt with major injuries, and sacrificed a lot to chase my dream. There were moments where quitting would have been the easier choice, but I kept moving forward because I believed in myself and the path I was on.
Every challenge taught me something, discipline, patience, and how to handle adversity. Those lessons shaped me not only as a player, but also as a person, a coach and business owner. Today, I try to pass that same mindset on to the athletes I work with, because talent may open doors, but resilience is what helps you keep going when those doors close.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://TOUCHLINETEKKERS.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touchlinetekkers?igsh=dXlpbmxxeGh5eWtn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EXfgSGN3T/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waleed-cherif-97a4051a9
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@touchlinetekkers?si=334ZUzKUUKF6cIVY
- Other: https://tinyurl.com/waleedcherif
