A long-time soccer player, Haley Brausch never thought about being a soccer coach.
After just one season as an assistant varsity coach for the Wilmington High School girls soccer team, Brausch was hired Monday as the head coach of the Lady Hurricane.
“I hadn’t really considered becoming a coach mainly because I identified as a player,” said Brausch, a 2012 Clinton-Massie High School graduate. “I loved playing soccer whether it be for my high school, my college, or just with some friends at the park. I knew after graduation, I would always continue playing soccer in some way for the rest of my life but to be able to now coach as well, is very exciting for me.”
Brausch was an assistant for head coach Alex Rhinehart, who did not return following his one season with the WHS girls program.
“I am really glad that I got to assist the soccer team last year,” said Brausch. “I think it was a year of learning and growth for me and it has prepared me to move forward in my coaching career. I’m glad for all of the experiences and guidance that I received last year as the assistant and I’m excited for the challenge of now becoming the head coach.”
Brausch said last season was her first-ever as a coach, at any level.
“It was the first year that I wasn’t on a team of my own,” she said.
Brausch was the team captain for soccer with both the Clinton-Massie girls and Wilmington College women. She graduated from WC in 2018. She earned academic honors as a soccer player at Wilmington College following her high school career where she carried a 4.0 grade point average.
“The biggest thing that I learned from my first year of coaching was patience and to celebrate all the little victories,” said Brausch, who is the general manager at Kava Haus. “One of my favorite moments last year came from a player who struggled to physically keep up but was always there working hard. She had a game that demonstrated how much she had improved through the season and even though we lost the game, I was so proud to see how far she had come as a player and a person. Those are the type of victories that are most important.”
