Nelly Guest Sydney Magliocca interview: Chelsea to Coastal

Nelly Guest Sydney Magliocca interview covers why the London-born soccer player left England for Coastal after playing for Chelsea and Brighton. Speaking with her teammate Sydney Magliocca, Guest explained how the faster approach she encountered in the NCAA differs from the game she knew at home, and why she wants an education alongside a possible professional career.

Why did Nelly Guest move from Chelsea and Brighton to Coastal?

Nelly Guest moved from England to the United States because she wanted high-level soccer and a high-level education at the same time. After playing for Chelsea and spending two years at Brighton, she chose Coastal as the place to pursue both goals rather than treating college as a break from her playing ambitions.

From Chelsea to Brighton

Guest grew up in London and began playing soccer when she was young, after watching her older brothers play. She later played for Chelsea, then moved to Brighton for two years before coming to the United States. She described the move as a choice about the future she wanted in both sport and education.

Choosing the United States

Players who had made a similar move helped shape that decision. Guest said she spoke with people who had come to the United States; although some had not liked the experience, most recommended it and spoke positively about the lifestyle. Her one-to-one coaches also suggested the route after hearing what she wanted to do next.

That advice gave her a reason to try a different environment, but the academic opportunity was central to her decision. She wanted to keep playing at a high level while earning a degree that could support her after soccer.

How does Nelly Guest compare soccer in England with the NCAA?

Nelly Guest found that play in the United States moved forward more quickly than the approach she knew in England. In her first sessions, she expected her team to keep possession at the back and build slowly. Instead, she encountered an approach that advanced the ball even when opponents did not come forward to press.

Her first reaction was to wonder why the team did not wait for the opposition to come to them. At home, she had been used to building from the back and allowing that movement to create the next opening. At Coastal, she saw that waiting was not necessarily part of the plan.

The contrast was about decisions on the ball, not a claim that one approach was better. Magliocca, reflecting on her own freshman year, also described the pace and athleticism of NCAA soccer as an adjustment. Guest’s example was more specific: when there was space to go forward, her new team went forward.

What does Nelly Guest plan to do after playing soccer?

Nelly Guest wants to play professionally, then work as a sports pundit or commentator. She is majoring in sports, media and journalism because she sees education as a way to prepare for the years after her playing career, while still giving professional soccer priority now.

Guest was direct about why the degree matters. Her immediate goal is to take her soccer career as far as she can, but she does not expect a playing career to last forever. She wants her academic work to give her another path when that career ends.

Guest put the need for a second path plainly:

Obviously that career doesn't last forever. So I need a backup.

Commentary and punditry appeal to her as ways to stay involved in sport. She believes the degree can help her pursue that work at a high level, particularly if her playing career also reaches the level she hopes for. For Guest, the two ambitions are connected rather than competing plans.

What did Nelly Guest say about her brothers and soccer?

Nelly Guest said her two older brothers played soccer when they were young but no longer play. She now sees herself as the athlete in a family whose brothers followed academic paths, and she described herself as the one carrying on its soccer tradition.

Watching her brothers was part of how Guest first became interested in playing. Their own participation did not continue: she said they stopped once they had the option to do other things. One brother finished studying mathematics at the University of Cambridge, while the other finished engineering at the University of Bristol.

Guest spoke warmly about their academic strengths and contrasted them with what she called her own soccer knowledge. The comparison was lighthearted, but it also explained why she considers herself the family member continuing with the game while her brothers have taken different directions.

How has Nelly Guest handled living far from her family?

Nelly Guest said moving to the United States is the longest she has been away from her family. Boarding school gave her some experience of living apart, but it was two hours from home rather than the much greater distance she faces at Coastal. She now calls and texts her family more often.

From boarding school to Coastal

Guest spent her last two years of high school at boarding school. That meant she had already learned something about being away, but visiting family was much easier when they were two hours away. She described the distance after moving to the United States as a different kind of separation.

A family visit during preseason

Her family came over for an extended visit during preseason. Guest said the time together brought them closer, which made their departure harder. She misses them and has increased the contact she keeps with them through calls and messages.

Living independently has also given her something she values. Guest said learning to live without her family nearby is good for her, even as she looks forward to seeing them again when she goes home. She expects that distance to make her appreciate their time together more.

What does Nelly Guest like about food in the United States and miss about England?

Nelly Guest named Carver and Waffle House as two places she enjoys in the United States, but said she misses the butter she has at home in England. Her food preferences have become part of adjusting to life away from London, particularly when she thinks about where to take visiting family.

Carver after a trip to Florida

Guest first tried Carver when her team traveled to play in Florida and has kept going back. She likes its bowls, saying she had not encountered a close equivalent in England. She also took her father there during his visit, and he enjoyed it. Guest said finding vegetarian options can be difficult for her household in the United States, which made Carver a useful choice.

Waffle House and the food she misses

Waffle House is her other favorite. Guest usually orders a plain waffle with chocolate chips and said she tends to stick with it, though she might eventually try something else. She hopes to bring her family to Waffle House if they visit again, as well as return with them to Carver.

What she most looks forward to eating back home is simpler: butter on toast. Guest said the butter in the United States does not taste as nice to her, and whipped butter was new to her when she arrived. Beyond food, she said she looks forward to being in her actual home again.