For Brooke Alexander, competing in sports is about having fun and playing with a passion. That is the mindset she will bring as the new head coach of the Oakton High girls' varsity soccer team this spring.
Alexander, the former head soccer coach at Falls Church High, was officially named the new Cougars' coach on Sept. 1. She looks forward to helping turn the fortunes around for a program that has struggled in recent seasons.
"The last couple of seasons have been a little tough for them record-wise," said Alexander, who replaces Edward Brown at the helm of the program. "I want to help improve the program and the morale."
Alexander worked at Falls Church High from 2001 through 2006 as a Spanish teacher. There, she was head coach of both the varsity girls' field hockey and girls' soccer teams from 2003 through 2005.
This fall, Alexander is the Oakton High girls' JV field hockey coach.
The Cougars' varsity is under the leadership of head coach Liz McManus.
Alexander's hopes for the Oakton soccer program are for her players to gain a new sense of joy in playing the sport.
"My main philosophy is if it is not fun, it's not soccer," she said. "I want to still make soccer fun without losing the competitive edge."
Alexander said she grew up in the Northern Virginia area playing youth soccer within the prestigious Washington Area Girls Soccer League (WAGS). She said her enjoyment as a youth player lost a little luster
over the years.
"My experience was that it got a little crazy and intense for some girls, myself included," said Alexander, indicating that the sport was taken so seriously that a pure love of the game was lost at times.
Alexander played her high school soccer at T.C. Williams under former Titans' coach Ian Lewis. She graduated from the Alexandria city school in 1996 before going on to attend the University of Virginia, where
she graduated with a degree in English in 2000.
Just recently, Alexander earned a Masters degree at Wake Forest University. She is currently a guidance counselor at Oakton.
Oakton girls soccer finished 6-8 under Brown last spring. Brown was head coach of the program for two years before stepping down following last season.
Oakton director of student activities Pete Duperrovzel is excited with the addition of Alexander to the coaching staff.
"She's a major upgrade to the program and she will be here in the building," said Duperrovzel.