CINCINNATI — Christy Even thought she was walking into a University of Cincinnati photo shoot on June 5.
Her daughter, Braelyn, believed the same thing.
The Bearcats wanted to highlight a rare mother-daughter soccer connection — or at least that was the story.
Christy, a former standout goalkeeper at Cincinnati, and Braelyn, an incoming UC freshman soccer player, were invited to campus for interviews, photos and a tour.
Then the real reason was revealed.
Christy Even, formerly Christy Hoffman, had been selected for induction into the University of Cincinnati Athletics Hall of Fame.
“It was so great,” Christy said. “And I loved getting to share it with Braelyn because she had no idea what was going on. She was just as shocked as I was.”
The timing made the moment even more meaningful.
Christy’s playing career at Cincinnati is being formally honored just as Braelyn is preparing to begin her own career with the Bearcats.
“Maggie said it best,” Christy said, referring to UC administrator Maggie McKinley. “She said this was an opportunity to close the chapter of my career at UC and allow Braelyn to open her own chapter and create her own footprint.”
Christy was one of the top goalkeepers in Cincinnati women’s soccer history. She became a fixture in goal during the early 2000s and helped elevate the Bearcats during one of the strongest stretches in program history.
She played five years at Cincinnati after receiving a medical redshirt following an ACL injury. Her senior-led team went on to reach the NCAA Sweet 16, a run that included a second-round victory over Notre Dame. It remains one of the signature accomplishments in UC women’s soccer history.
Still, the moments Christy treasures most have little to do with saves, records or postseason victories.
“Those times with the girls I played with are what I remember most,” Christy said. “The travel, the relationships, everything off the field. That’s what made the career fun.”
The bonds they built never truly faded.
Christy still gets together with former teammates who remained in southwest Ohio. Many of them followed Braelyn’s rise through youth, club and high school soccer and are eager to watch her play at Cincinnati.
“It’s fun for Braelyn because they are so excited to come back to games to have someone that they know and kind of have watched grow up play,” Christy said.
Christy has remained a leader away from soccer, too. She now serves as assistant superintendent of the Warren County Educational Service Center and has stayed heavily involved in youth athletics and her children’s sports careers.
As a parent, she encouraged Braelyn to remain a multi-sport athlete. Even through injuries and the pressures of recruiting, Christy pushed her daughter to keep playing basketball and soccer rather than specialize too early.
That support helped shape one of the most decorated athletes in Badin High School history.
Braelyn Even prepares for her own Bearcats path
Braelyn has waited a long time to officially become a Cincinnati Bearcat.
She committed to UC early in her junior year at Badin. Since then, the idea of college soccer has felt close but not quite real.
Now it is almost here.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for forever,” Braelyn said. “I’m super excited to get into the college soccer world and compete at the highest level.”
Braelyn is scheduled to report to Cincinnati on July 6. Because she is local, she has already been going to campus twice a week for running and conditioning.
Her first college season begins in August.
Braelyn arrives at Cincinnati with one of the strongest athletic résumés in southwest Ohio.
In soccer, she became one of the top players in Ohio’s 2026 class. She played club soccer with Cincinnati United and later competed with Ohio Elite Soccer Academy. She gained experience through U.S. Soccer identification programs and youth national team opportunities, including international experience in Portugal.
Cincinnati coach Erica Demers praised Braelyn’s versatility when announcing the Bearcats’ signing class. Braelyn is known as a defensive midfielder with elite athleticism, set-piece ability and the strength to control the middle of the field.
She also had to fight through adversity to get there.
Braelyn suffered two ACL injuries during her high school career, including one that cost her junior soccer season. Her mother had torn her ACL at Cincinnati, giving the two a shared understanding of the physical and emotional toll of recovery.
Braelyn said her mother’s response helped her get through it.
“She gave me 24 hours,” Braelyn said. “She told me, ‘Be upset. This really sucks.’ Then after those 24 hours, she was like, ‘It’s go time. We’re getting you back out there.’”
It was not always easy.
“There were definitely times my dad was the middleman between us,” Braelyn said. “She says it all the time, I’m a mini her.”
Braelyn returned to lead Badin to another Greater Catholic League Coed championship and led the Rams in both goals and assists during her senior season.
Soccer is her college sport, but basketball made her even more recognizable locally.
Braelyn became the all-time leading scorer in Badin basketball history, boys or girls. She rewrote the record books at one of southwest Ohio’s premier girls basketball programs while continuing to recover from multiple knee injuries.
Badin, she said, helped prepare her for everything ahead.
“I probably had the best four years of my life at high school,” Braelyn said. “They helped me a lot both academically and sports-wise. Playing in high school kind of made me love the sport again.”
A family legacy continues at Cincinnati
Braelyn had options.
She chose Cincinnati over offers and interest from programs that included Ohio State, Michigan and Virginia Tech. The comfort she felt with the Bearcats coaching staff, the chance to stay close to home and the opportunity to play in front of family all mattered.
“She fell in love with the coach,” Christy said. “Braelyn is a relationship kid. It wasn’t a business transaction for her. She wanted that relationship piece.”
Braelyn officially signed with Cincinnati in November 2025 and plans to study health sciences.
Her arrival also comes at an important time for UC women’s soccer. The Bearcats are continuing to build under Demers while competing in the Big 12. Braelyn is part of Demers’ first full recruiting class, and Christy believes her daughter wanted to be part of helping the program grow.
“She wants to set a mark and make that change,” Christy said. “They’ve transitioned to the Big 12. This is Erica’s first own recruiting class coming in. There’s that piece of, ‘We’ll prove you wrong.’”
The family connection makes the story rare.
Cincinnati’s signing announcement noted that Braelyn is following in the footsteps of her mother, a former Bearcats standout goalkeeper. UC’s athletic department also recognized the mother-daughter connection as something special across the department.
Few families experience a moment like this — one generation entering a university’s Hall of Fame while the next generation begins a Division I career at the same school.
Braelyn understands the significance more now than she did when she was younger.
“I always thought, yeah, she’s pretty good,” Braelyn said. “But the older I get, the more I realize how good she actually was. I have an appreciation for the mindset that she installed into me and the preparation she had when she went into college and now is passing on to me.”
Christy gets to see her daughter begin a journey at the place that helped define her own.
Braelyn gets to create something new while carrying the lessons of someone who already left a lasting mark.
The surprise Hall of Fame announcement ended with a mother and daughter embrace.
Christy’s career was being celebrated. Braelyn’s was about to begin.
One chapter closed. Another opened.
“I think it’s definitely an honor,” Braelyn said. “To be able to continue something she started here is really special.”
