making the band A group of high schoolers has raised more than $80,000 for UNC Children’s selling handmade bracelets By David Hic k s
F
or the Palladino family – dad Bill, known by most as Dino, mom Wendy and son Zac – soccer comes up frequently at the dinner table. Dino, a Chapel Hill native, was an outstanding athlete at Chapel Hill High School and then at UNC. For close to 40 years, he was an assistant coach for the dynastic UNC women’s soccer team and the director of the world-renowned Carolina Girls’ Soccer Camp. In 1998 and 1999, Dino served as head coach of the former Raleigh Wings team where he, along with his assistant coach, former UNC star Susan Ellis, captured two national championships in the USL W-League. He was an assistant coach for the women’s national team in 2003 and currently serves as an assistant coach with the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League. Wendy, a certified financial planner and a first vice president in the Private Client Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, is a former UNC soccer player with three national championships. She’s also a player who scored for the women’s national team, which won the first Women’s World Cup in 1991. For 36
chapelhillmagazine.com
March 2021
many years, Wendy was the voice of women’s soccer as she served as color analyst for ESPN and covered the 1999 and 2003 Women’s World Cups. Son Zac, a sophomore at East Chapel Hill High School, is an accomplished athlete as a member of the golf team and a midfielder on the varsity soccer team. Zac and his friend Ethan Testen were 8 years old when they decided to make and sell rainbow loom bracelets as a way to make some money for the summer. On the corner of their street in their Westwood neighborhood, they set up shop for business. Much to their surprise, they sold $20 worth and decided to buy more supplies for their new venture. Wendy suggested they find another location which would present a better sales opportunity. Right away the boys asked Dino if they could show and sell their BOTTOM CENTER The boys with Dr. Wesley Burks, now the CEO of UNC Health.