Story by Audrey Kashatus
At UNC-Chapel Hill, the Overbeck name carries weight — but for Carla and Carson Overbeck, greatness didn’t look the same.
Carla Overbeck, who attended UNC from 1986 to 1989, carved her legacy as a captain of the 1996 Olympic Champion women’s soccer team and the 2000 silver-medal team, captain of the 1999 and 1995 World Cup Champion teams, and a four-time NCAA champion during her college career.
Her daughter spent most of her time on UNC’s volleyball team standing on the sidelines, rarely logging big minutes but always standing up for her team. Although her playing time was minimal, Carson Overbeck’s positive attitude and enthusiasm she brought to the team earned her a captain’s title her junior year.
Carson Overbeck first came to UNC to study education and make her way into a teaching role. She always enjoyed the leadership skills teaching required and even had experience on the volleyball court too, coaching middle school camps.
After forgoing her eligibility her freshman year, Carson Overbeck had the choice to return to UNC volleyball for a fifth year. She wrestled with the decision to give up her last year and felt guilty for moving on.
“People that don’t red-shirt and don’t get that extra year – they would do anything for the opportunity I had,” Carson Overbeck said.
But deep down, she knew she wanted to take the next step.
With encouragement from her mother and support from UNC volleyball’s head coach, Mike Schall, Carson Overbeck found herself on the sidelines once again — this time, in a new role.
Now, while pursuing her master’s degree in applied professional studies at UNC, she is a graduate assistant for the team. Instead of competing, she’s coaching. Instead of chasing points, she’s building relationships.
Though she had once been nervous about how her former teammates would respond, the transition was seamless.
“She’s always carried herself in a way that leaders carry themselves,” Schall said.
She was already a leader on the team as a player, so moving to a coaching role was a natural step for her. She became a sounding board, a source of calm, and a voice players could trust — qualities that she already showed as a player.
“Saying the right thing is hard, and she does that really well,” Safi Hampton, Carson Overbeck’s former teammate and junior on the team, said.
Spending most of her playing career on the bench could have made Carson Overbeck bitter; instead, it made her better. Through long seasons of limited playing time, she learned patience, resilience, and hard work — lessons that now shape her approach to coaching.
“She always makes sure she is the last one out, first one in,” Hampton said.
Her voice as a coach is not only valued by the players, but also by the other staff. Before the end of her fourth year, Schall told Carson Overbeck he would do anything to keep her around UNC volleyball.
“Her voice out here is very valuable,” Schall said.
Carla Overbeck also understands the complexities of moving from player to coach. Now serving as associate head coach for Duke women’s soccer, she remembers her early coaching days vividly — struggling to balance her drive for excellence with the realization that not every player shared her same ambitions.
“You can’t want something for somebody,” she said. “They have to want it for themselves.”
As Carson began navigating her own coaching career, Carla Overbeck felt nothing but pride. She recognized the energy, the emotional intelligence, and the authenticity that made her daughter such a natural fit for the job.
The bond between them has always been strong, but coaching gave them a new layer of connection.
Daily phone calls — some only lasting minutes — are routine. They constantly share everything from stories about their days to leadership strategies on the team and challenges they encounter
And although their worlds revolve around different sports, their sentiments are the same: Authenticity is important, attitude matters and real impact is built one relationship at a time. Carla said she could see glimpses of shared values in her daughter’s leadership — even if she was still finding her own coaching voice.
“I always tell her that it’s really important that you’re true to yourself, and you have to have a style that matches your personality and your character,” Carla Overbeck said. “You can’t be something that you’re not in coaching.”
While Carla built her career in the heat of the world’s biggest stages, Carson built hers in the quiet spaces — at practices and in locker rooms.
Before she chose to make volleyball her sport, Carson Overbeck played soccer as a child, with her mom as a coach. Though she enjoyed soccer, volleyball was really where her heart was.
When Carson told her mom she wouldn’t be pursuing soccer anymore, Carla Overbeck was thrilled she found something she was passionate about.
“I was excited that she kind of found her own way and her own sport,” Carla said.
Carson began her volleyball career at Chapel Hill Area Volleyball Club before moving to Triangle Volleyball Club in high school. She attended Carrboro High School where she helped her team to a 2A North Carolina state championship as a freshman, served as team captain her junior and senior years, and earned all-state and all-region honors as a senior.
But success isn’t always about who scores the most goals or logs the most minutes. Sometimes, it’s about who stays after practice to lift up a teammate, who shows up every day with a smile even when it’s hard, and who chooses to make the people around them better.
Carla Overbeck said one of the most important pieces of being a player or a coach is hard work, and her daughter consistently shows no slack.
In different sports, with different stories, the mother-daughter duo has found their own kind of greatness — and now, they’re passing it on to the next generation, one player at a time.
When Carla and Carson Overbeck talk about the biggest lesson they have learned from each other, they both say the same thing.
No one will remember how many minutes you played, how many points you scored, what your statistical record was or how perfect your form was. People will remember what kind of teammate you were.
“The relationships you build are gonna last for the rest of your life,” Carson Overbeck recalls her mom saying to her. “So don’t get caught up in the stuff that doesn’t matter.”
