Hi North Carolina FC fans! This is Daniele Proch, your number 21, and I am here to share some exciting news: We are starting a team blog!

Let me begin by telling you how this idea came together and why I am enthusiastic about this new project.

I hail from Riva del Garda, Italy, a tiny town sitting atop of a beautiful lake in the north of the country. When I graduated from high school in 2015, I was faced with the difficult task of choosing between playing my favorite sport and continuing my education: Italy, unlike the US, lacks a collegiate system designed for student-athletes, so that most students out of high school are forced to pursue either a professional career in their sports or a higher education. I rejected this idea and instead decided to come to the US, where I knew I could get the best of both worlds.

Upon coming to college in the US, I only knew one thing about my academic plans: I wanted to study journalism. I first landed at Catawba College, in Salisbury, NC, a city about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte. Here, I began taking journalism classes that ignited my interest in writing and reporting. Even though my English wasn’t fluent from the beginning, I successfully made it through my freshman year, and I was able to transfer to Duke University in the summer of 2017.

During my time in Durham, my passion for reporting and writing kept growing. Inspired by established journalists and journalism professors, I enrolled in Duke’s Policy Journalism and Media Studies program, completed two journalism internships over two summers, and eventually graduated in December 2019.

This past February, NCFC gave me the chance to sign my first professional contract, a lifetime goal of mine. Right when I was starting to get used to this new, amazing life, our season got interrupted amid concerns for the spread of coronavirus. Since March 12, my teammates and I have been locked down in our apartments in Cary.

This time at home has made me think about possible ways to enhance the connection between us, the professional athletes, and the people that support us. It wasn't until a few days ago that Morgan Brown, our communications manager, threw a simple yet fantastic idea at me: Why not use your passion for journalism to start a blog aimed at connecting the NCFC community with the team?

By taking advantage of my perspective as an insider, I will try to give our fans a peek into the players’ daily life, the locker room, and similar behind-the-scenes activities that you all might not know about.

Our goal is to draw you closer to our world. But we are going to need your help, too! Let us know what you are looking forward to the most in this blog, what you are curious to see, and which players’ life you would like to dig deep into by emailing socialmedia@northcarolinafc.com.

Until the next one!

Stay safe.

#WeAreNC