Soccer star Quinn Sullivan recently shared insights with a group of Healthy NewsWorks fifth-grade reporters about how he connects with players on and off the field, including his brother, Cavan.
The Sullivan brothers play for the Philadelphia Union, and each joined the team at a young age. Quinn was 16 and Cavan was 14.
Learning how to relate to other people is something professional soccer players need to do. They often move from one team to another on short notice. Now, six years into his professional career, Quinn told the Chester Charter Scholars Academy Healthy Highlights reporters that a key is putting yourself out there and getting to know his teammates as people, not just as players. “Growing together off the field is super important to grow together on the field.”
The reporters are writing several articles that are tied to this year’s reporting theme: Making Healthy Connections. The articles will appear in their school newspaper, in Healthy NewsWorks’ Fall 2026 By Kids, For Kids magazine, and on the Healthy NewsWorks web platform. They also have a hand in producing a short video.
The interview made an immediate impact on the reporters. “Quinn doesn’t give up,” said one reporter. Another reporter said she took away from Quinn’s interview: “When someone tells you [that] you can’t do something, you can try to do it better than you did before.”
Sullivan also spoke of what it’s like to play alongside his brother Cavan on the Union.
“What makes him really special is his mentality,” Quinn said. “He obviously has a ton of talent. But when we talk about what do you think about what other people think of you, he doesn’t care at all. He always wants to do something special, something different. And he works really hard.”
Quinn, 22, said he appreciates the time he can spend with his younger brother, 16, driving to and from the Chester stadium. They talk “about what’s going on with the team … all the little things that you get to share with someone that I never got to do” before Cavan joined the team.
He said he has received a lot of support from Cavan, his family, and his team since September when he tore an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). He said he isn’t expected back on the field until July.
Keeping a journal also has helped him during his recovery, he told the reporters. “Just documenting my recovery journey,” he said. “It’s not a ton of writing, but I just check in, every once in a while, with myself.” For example, he said, “I want to be able to look back on my time during my injury and say at month two of my injury, I could barely walk and now I’m running. So to look at that in a positive light.”
