[1] After graduating from high school, Van Rheenen attended University of California, Berkeley where he played on the men's soccer team from 1983 to 1986.
In 1990, Van Rheenen he signed with the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL).
In 1993, the team saw a drop off in its league performance as it concentrated on making a run through the CONCACAF Champions Cup in which it went to the semifinals only to fall to the Hugo Sánchez-led Club América, 4–3 on aggregate.
At the end of the 1992 season, the Blackhawks owner pulled the team from the APSL and relocated it to the lower division U.S. Interregional Soccer League (USISL).
In 2000, Van Rheenen was a member, and the leading scorer, for the Olympic Club in the San Francisco Soccer Football League's Major Division.
[5] After leaving professional soccer, Van Rheenen returned to Berkeley, where he attained a Master's degree in education in 1993 and a Doctorate in Cultural Studies in 1997.