After long hours of consideration, SM East alum Beck Rettenmaier entered the college soccer transfer portal in the fall of 2025. During his entire winter break back home in Kansas, he spent his time emailing any school where he might want to play soccer during the second semester of his sophomore year of college.
He was leaving Loyola University Chicago to hopefully play at another school in the U.S.
Then, not even three months later, he’d be playing soccer in Murcia, Spain, for the Catholic University of Murcia, three connecting flights away from Kansas City.
“At first, I ran the opportunity [to play at UCAM] by my parents, and we all thought it was too good to be true,” Beck said. “But that changed after a Zoom meeting to get our eyes on the campus and everything that they had to offer there. That's when our heads swiveled, and we were like, ‘Okay, this is legit.’”
Beck played varsity soccer at SM East all four years and committed to play Division 1 soccer right out of high school for Loyola. But then, after a groin injury in the last game of his senior year at SM East, he ended up medically redshirting his first year at Loyola because the injury never really subsided.
Beck did get to play during the first semester of his sophomore year in 2025 once his injury fully healed. He then entered the transfer portal and was offered the opportunity to play for UCAM by a part-time UCAM recruiter who was part of the coaching staff at Loyola.
“It was shocking to me that the amount of work they do there [at UCAM], and they work with a lot of Spanish national athletes, Olympians, tennis players, things like that,” Beck’s mom, Debra Rettenmaier, said. “It seemed like a really cool opportunity, and he took it.”
However, at first, Debra had reservations about her son transferring since his schooling was going well at Loyola, but she trusted that he was making an educated decision.
Since Beck enrolled halfway through the school year, he’s not taking any classes and is only playing soccer. If Beck decides UCAM is the right school for him in May, then he’ll come back during the fall as a full-time student.
Beck spends most of his time exploring and walking around the campus, and also doing Spanish tutoring through Babble and Duolingo.
Beck only took two years of Spanish in high school, but now that he's going to school in a Spanish-speaking country, he’s working to learn the language, eventually hoping to be bilingual.
At times on the field during practices or games, Beck struggles to communicate with his teammates or coaches because he doesn’t quite understand what they’re saying to him, but he’s tried to pick up some words and phrases. Beck is incredibly grateful to have teammates who can help him work through understanding conversations while he’s still learning Spanish.
A difference Beck has noticed while being in Spain is that he’s actually communicating more with his family than he did at Loyola due to the fact that it's just such a different experience — even with the seven-hour time difference. He'll give his mom and dad rundowns of his games over the phone or text her sister, sophomore Chloe, about his day.
The highlight of Beck’s season was a game on March 15 — his twenty-first birthday — in which he started for the first time and also scored his first goal during this game.
Additionally, Beck is currently on a tourist Visa because of the quick speed at which he had to leave for Spain, and it expires almost exactly when the semester ends. This summer, he’ll be coming back to the U.S. to play soccer for the Memphis Football Club, a semi-pro USL2 team in Tennessee.
“I’m ready to come back to the States,” Beck said. “[The USL2 team] is really good competition as well. A really good level, I’m hoping to always improve as a player. I think Memphis can help me do that, and it’s a great opportunity.”
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