Elena Cantu - Director of Sports Science and Performance Manager - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Elena Cantu

Title:
Director of Sports Science and Performance Manager

Elena Cantu joined the UNC women’s soccer staff as a full time Director of Sport Science and Performance coach in the fall of 2025 after two seasons of working as an intern with the team while earning her masters degree.

Cantu earned her Biology degree from UNAM in Mexico in 2022 where she played collegiate soccer. She then spent a year as a sport performance intern at Stanford University before enrolling in the Exercise Physiology graduate program at the University of North Carolina.

While earning her degree, Cantu spent two years working with the women’s soccer team coordinating the players’ strength and conditioning, nutrition, and sports medicine requirements to optimize the players’ performance. This two year stint with the team culminated in them winning the 2024 National Championship.

After graduating in May of 2025, Cantu was hired full time by UNC to be the women’s soccer team’s Director of Sport Science and Performance heading into the 2025 season.

In addition, Cantu worked the summer of 2025 with numerous U.S. Soccer Youth National Teams as those teams’ sport scientist gaining valuable experience in the field.