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09/03/2012 12:00 AMAfter winning just one game in 2011, the Westbrook girls' soccer team decided it was time for a change. Failing to contend within the Shoreline Conference, the Knights lured away one of their enemies' own in Allison Sumecki, a former North Branford standout now given the task of returning Westbrook to respectability in a difficult league.
Allison, a 2002 North Branford graduate, was recently hired to take over a program that was just 1-13-2 last season, hoping her years of Shoreline Conference and college soccer experience will return the Knights to royalty. With Westbrook's first scrimmage scheduled for today, Allison's reign officially gets underway, looking to overtake a territory she once called home.
"I was coaching the girls at the middle school last year and when I heard the high school coaches were not coming back, I spoke with [Athletic Director Paula Fitzgerald] and applied for the position and over time had an interview," Allison says. "I am very excited about [the opportunity] actually, coaching varsity soccer is something I've always been hoping to do eventually. My goal has always been to coach at this level."
A goaltender and captain for North Branford during her high school career, Allison went on to play and captain the women's soccer team at Eastern Connecticut State University. After putting her goalie gloves and cleats on the shelf for the final time, Allison quickly began a career in coaching, leading a Guilford Premier soccer team, coaching varsity swimming in East Haven, junior varsity stints with the Westbrook and Daniel Hand softball teams, as well as coaching at year-round Everson Soccer Club clinics, before leading the Westbrook Middle School girls' soccer team in 2011.
"Allison is not only a great addition to our teaching staff, but also the athletic staff," said Fitzgerald. "She brings youthful enthusiasm and experience in moving our program forward with team players already remarking on how they appreciate all the work she has done with them already."
The main point Allison is stressing to her first varsity soccer team: commitment. Allison believes in order to compete with some of the state's better soccer programs that the Shoreline Conference boasts, it is going to take a dedicated group of girls.
"I think we have a lot of potential, we have a strong senior class, and committed girls who are really looking to do something this year," she says. "As long as we continue to put in the effort, we will see progress. They need to understand the level of commitment it takes to succeed in a varsity program. Understanding what is required to play with and compete with our opponents."
One of the bright spots of taking over a team that won just a single game a year ago is there is nowhere to go but up. However, Allison wasn't ready to make any bold predictions just two weeks into her first preseason with the Knights.
"I'm not sure at this point what my overall goal is. Really I'm just trying to get everybody ready," Allison says. "I can't give [a] number based on wins and losses, I'd just us like to be able to compete, that would be my overall goal. Not just be another team, but be a team that can compete well with everyone else."
As for how she will approach each opponent, she hopes to take them head on.
"That is something I'm going to figure out when the season progresses," says Allison who teaches health and physical education at Westbrook High School. "I think it is going to be game-to-game situations, we are going to play our opponents to the best of our abilities."
The Knights will take on Ledyard Sept. 6 in their only scrimmage before the season opens on Sept. 11 at home against Old Saybrook. If nothing else, Allison wants fans to know under her watch, the Knights will at least look the part of soccer royalty.
Says Allison: "I hope Westbrook fans see a group of girls working hard against their opponents, giving 110-percent effort. That is all I can ask for."