It’s not uncommon for the typical college student to spend Spring Break in far-flung locales.

Standout Virginia(m) first-year center back Zachary Ehrenpreis made a long trip during his recent spring break.

Instead of a warm, tropical vacation, his destination was Frankfurt, Germany. Instead of a relaxing time spent in the sun, he trained with Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.

“It was a good experience,” Ehrenpreis told TDS in a phone interview. “It's definitely a high level, great environment, great coaching and very good players. I think that playing a season in the ACC helped for that not to be a major jump.”

While it is relatively common for college prospects to spend part of the summer training with pro sides domestically, it is more of a rare occurrence for American players in college to compete abroad.

The opportunity came about on the heels of Ehrenpreis’ excellent ACC campaign. After he appeared in 18 games (all starts) at Virginia(m), he was invited to the Major League Soccer College Showcase in December. While he didn’t sign a Generation adidas contract to enter the MLS Draft, an overseas scout spotted him. Eventually, that connected Ehrenpreis with the opportunity in Germany.

During his recent spring break in March, the defender trained with the Bundesliga side. First with the Under-19s, he also competed with the Under-21 team by the time his experience wrapped. Entering into that environment off the back of his first college season helped Ehrenpreis with the adjustments.

“I felt comfortable and confident playing [there] because of my experience playing ACC soccer,” he said. 

A variety of experiences in 2025 set Ehrenpreis on course to emerge as a first-year starter in Charlottesville. Originally from the Bay Area, he was part of an extremely talented Breakers FC 07 squad for several seasons, first in the Development Academy, and then in MLS NEXT. The left-footed central defender was instrumental in the team’s possession-approach, and his standout play in MLS NEXT earned him an invitation to the Generation adidas Cup with the Philadelphia Union in the spring of 2025.

Exposing him to another playing style, he shuffled into another opportunity later that summer. He trained with USL Championship-side Oakland Roots’ first team before moving across the country to Virginia(m). Those opportunities pushed him in a variety of ways on the field: playing in a back three, playing a bit more direct, facing bigger, stronger and faster attackers in training every day.

That, combined with his time at Breakers, prepared him well to hit the ground running in college, a rare feat these days for even the best domestic recruits.

“I came in with a lot of confidence,” he said about his freshman season. “I feel like I had a lot of confidence in myself, not with the expectation to start, but with the confidence that I'd be able to win my starting spot… we went to the captain's practices, trained hard, trained well. When the preseason [started], which was really short in college, I performed well and got the start in our first preseason game, played well, got the start in our next preseason game versus Georgetown, played well, and then just kinda earned my coach's trust from there and started.”

At the season’s end, Ehrenpreis piled up the accolades, including an All-Freshman Team nod from ACC coaches. He paid tribute to spending the year bouncing around the different environments (Breakers FC, Philadelphia Union, Oakland Roots, UVA) and figuring out how to excel in them as a reason for his successful training stint in Germany. 

“Getting all these different experiences under my belt really helped me to develop as a player and learn more tactically,” he said. 

With spring break in the past, Ehrenpreis is in the middle of his spring at Virginia(m). Eintracht has communicated an invitation for him to return to train with the club when he’s available, potentially over the summer. That’s something he is willing to consider, as he seeks to have as many possibilities on the table for the future.

“I'm kind of just keeping my options open and trying to just open as many doors as I can for myself so I have options,” he said.

For now, the focus is on continuing to learn and develop at UVA in the same fashion as he has over the past year.

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