Leander Schaerlaeckens

Senior Professional Lecturer, Sports Communication; Assistant Director, Center for Sports Communication

Bio

Leander Schaerlaeckens has been a lecturer in sports communication at Marist since 2017, teaching sports communication and journalism and specializing in writing classes. Leander started and remains the faculty advisor for , a website covering Marist sports in depth.

Leander and longer stories for . He was previously a full-time soccer writer for ESPN, FOX Sports and Yahoo Sports and has covered three FIFA World Cups. , will be published by Viking Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) in May 2026.

Leander was born in the Netherlands, grew up in Belgium, went to college in London, and attended graduate school in Washington, D.C. before settling in the Hudson Valley with his wife, son, and mutt, Eleanor Roosevelt. He is fluent in English, Dutch, and French.

He has a love-hate relationship with the New York Mets. At the moment, he isn鈥檛 talking to them.

Education

MA, Broadcast Journalism and Public Affairs, American University
BA, Print Journalism and Economics, City, University of London

Research Interests / Areas of Focus

Soccer, sports journalism, history of sports, sports and politics, journalism, longform non-fiction writing

Selected Publications

Awards/Honors

Noted in Best American Sports Writing anthology in 2012, 2017, 2021 and 2023.

Media links

Image of Marist Professor, Leander Schaerlaeckens.

Contact Information

Academic School

School of Communication and the Arts

Office

Lowell Thomas 245

Email

Leander.Schaerlaeckens@marist.edu

Phone

(845) 575-3506

Website/Resume