The McCallie varsity soccer team has won TSSAA Division II-AA State Championships in both 2017 and 2019, bringing the program's total to seven state titles.

Under Head Coach Chris Cushenbery, the Blue Tornado has turned into a perennially nationally-ranked program playing against some of the toughest competition in the Region. The 2019 squad went 13-3-2 overall and produced two All-Americans as named by Top Drawer Soccer, Matthew Warbrick and Gui Vivaldini. Matthew is currently playing at the University of Virginia after graduating in 2019, and Gui is a current senior for the Blue Tornado.

The program has produced a number of student-athletes who have gone on to play soccer in college. Drew Viscomi '16, a 2016 All-American and the state's Gatorade Player of the Year, continues an impressive career at Northwestern University. Thomas Priest, an All-State performer in 2017 and 2018, is playing at Lipscomb University. Other All-State honorees Jonah Bryan and Andrew Prescott are playing at Lee University and East Tennessee State University respectively. Former player Logan Russell plays at Wheaton College and is a member of the Bahamas National Team.

Cushenbery is now in his eighth year as the head coach and program director. Longtime faculty members Randy Odle and Ross Shumate run the junior varsity team. The program has produced others who are playing soccer at schools such as Furman, Louisville, North Carolina State, Covenant College and Wake Forest.

Ben Stafford ’97 was a Parade All-American, a First-Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer at Wake Forest and a third-round draft pick in 2001 by Major League Soccer. Haddon Kirk ’02 was drafted in the second round of the 2007 MLS supplemental draft. Arturo Rocha ’12 was an All-American in 2012.

McCallie soccer has been awarded the NSCAA National Team Academic Award 17 times which ranks among the top 10 in the nation and is best all-time in the state of Tennessee.

But the soccer program strives to be about more than trophies and honors. The overarching sense of purpose for the young men in this program is to “make McCallie the best place in the country to play high school soccer.” Rather than a focus on winning, the team strives to create the best environment for players to grow both on the field and as men. That focus is solidified in the team’s core values listed below:

• Place the team over individual
• Be relationally invested
• Seek excellence
• Choose to be positive
• Work hard
• Be mentally tough
• Be accountable to one another
• Seek to be men of character