Every summer growing up, freshman Sierah McCallum ’28 would wake up each morning and practice soccer with her father, Napoleon McCallum, who spent seven seasons as a running back in the National Football League.

“My dad was my coach for most of my soccer career,” Sierah McCallum said. “He’s been coaching me since we were younger. We’d go out and shoot, and it was so much fun.”

Sierah McCallum is well aware of her father’s history and his time with the Los Angeles Raiders (formerly Oakland Raiders) and San Diego Chargers, but she has her eyes set on building her own legacy in a different set of cleats.

“I want to be the best I can be everywhere I go,” she said. “One of my goals this year is to be the top scorer in the West Coast Conference, and after that I have even more goals.”

McCallum currently leads the Pacific women’s soccer team with four goals during her first-year campaign, including a stretch of scoring a goal in three straight contests during the middle of the 2024 season. That three-goal span also featured her first collegiate goal at Weber State—a second-half equalizer that put a smile on her face.

“I was so happy that I was in the right spot to get the ball into the goal,” she said. “The first goal gave me the confidence to know that I can do this.”

McCallum is no stranger to scoring goals. She led her club teams in scoring for the majority of her campaigns, according to her dad.

“I’m very proud of her,” her dad said. “She works really hard. She’s physical, fast and just competes. She’s been a leader on my team. She leads our teams in scoring and pretty much every team she’s been on.”

It’s no secret that Napoleon McCallum had an impressive football career. He became a member of the College Football Hall of Fame after setting an NCAA record with 7,172 career all-purpose yards as a two-time consensus All-American at Navy.

While the spotlight on the McCallum family shines bright on her dad, Sierah McCallum is focused on making her way forward to the best of her abilities on the pitch at Pacific.

“I really like it here,” she said. “I was watching everyone at practice the other day. Everyone was talking and laughing, and I was like, ‘I’m going to miss this one day.’ It’s so beautiful here. Every time I walk around and I’m just in awe. I’m so happy with choosing this school.”

The rest of the McCallum family is also supportive of her journey.

“It’s great that she gets to build her own legacy at Pacific,” Napoleon McCallum said. “She is just a freshman and has so much potential. I’m looking forward to her growing and improving with the team.”

Co-head coaches Danesha Adams and J.J. Wozniak have also seen the perseverance and power that she brings to the game.

“We are so happy to have Sierah at our program,” Adams said. “She is dynamic and can change a game pretty quickly, but she is still a freshman. She has impressed so far and has all the tools to be a dominant forward in college soccer. She is coachable, eager to learn, gets extra reps and is willing to do whatever to keep getting better. In due time, Sierah will be a name to remember at Pacific and we can’t wait to be along for the ride.”

As Sierah McCallum continues to write her own soccer story, she does it with a passion and a purpose.

“I’m very goal oriented and I just want to continue to get through my goals,” she said.

The Tigers will compete against Pepperdine at home Saturday, Oct. 12 during Homecoming and Family Weekend. See the full schedule for women’s soccer.