Every year it seems like college coaches have more and more responsibilities placed upon them. From managing NIL and revenue sharing to concocting practice schedules and game plans, coaches have a lot to deal with.
With all that responsibility falling on the coach and the rest of the staff, sometimes they don’t have as much time as they’d like to connect with their players on a personal level. If a player is going through a slump or having mental struggles, their coach isn’t always available to talk.
With that in mind, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes recently hired Julie Brooker as a character coach to work with NC State softball and other sports on campus. Brooker played softball at the University of Georgia and spent 20 years as a high school varsity softball coach. Last May, her husband, Michael Brooker, was hired to be head boys basketball coach at Cardinal Gibbons High School, and they moved from Georgia to North Carolina in a week’s notice.
At the time, Julie Brooker wasn’t sure what was next but now, starting this month, she will be working with the softball team.
“I want to give our kids every opportunity to find whatever they need from a spiritual perspective,” said head coach Lindsay Leftwich. “‘How can someone other than our coaching staff serve you?’ And so anytime we can put people in front of them that can love them and take care of them and grow them in certain ways we want to do that.”
Brooker said she’ll be wherever she’s needed. Whether that’s at practice, the weight room or in the dugout at games, she wants to be that person players can go to with anything.
“I hope to just be in a mentor role — someone that the team can trust, someone they can go to,” Brooker said. “I know that there are so many responsibilities on the head coach and the assistant coaches that it can be helpful to have that extra presence, another person, an adult who understands the sport and most importantly puts God first.”
While the FCA is based on Christianity and most of its teachings come from the Bible, Leftwich said they want to support student athletes in whatever spiritual direction they are heading in. Brooker understands not everyone shares the same values but will treat every player equally.
“As a Christian, you’re called to serve and love everyone the same,” Brooker said. “That would be my goal, just to love and to help and to be a Christian by example.”
Leftwich believes Brooker’s experience as a player and coach will be especially impactful. Brooker knows what it’s like to go hitless in a game, strikeout in the final at-bat and make an error on defense. She knows the emotional toll a mistake like that can have on someone, especially if it results in a loss.
“I think her understanding that aspect of it from a coaching side and from a playing side, I think that just offers a lot of peace and just control for our team,” Leftwich said. “They know that they can go to someone and say ‘I’m really struggling’ in a space that she understands where they’ve been, and they can kind of lead them to that space from a spiritual perspective.”
Not only will Brooker be there for the players but Leftwich thinks she’ll make just as big of an impact on her and the rest of the coaching staff. Coaches also need a place to turn to for support when they are going through hardships, and Brooker will be there for them as well.
“Getting to know someone who’s been in the thick of this thing has been just great support for me,” Leftwich said. “FCA does a great job of coaching the coaches, because if they can change our hearts and coach us and make sure we’re in a good spot, then it’s really easy for us to then coach our teams from that same place because we feel filled up and in a space where we feel like we’re being supported.”
So what does success look like for Brooker? It’s a new role for her and not all of her responsibilities have been defined yet. For Brooker, it’s simple — success boils down to one word.
“Success is winning,” Brooker said. “Winning over lives, helping people find their purpose, helping people become the best version of themselves, to help people find their way. I believe when we get there, success follows, and in this instance, it’s winning softball games, competing for an ACC championship, making a trip to the World Series.”
Leftwich hopes that having Brooker around will make players feel “worthy despite their results.” After having conversations with Brooker, Leftwich is confident the FCA has put the right person in place to elevate the softball program’s culture and create a loving environment.
“Julie’s got so much energy and so much joy that just kind of flows out of her,” Leftwich said. “I think it’s hard not to get sucked in by that and feel loved and taken care of.”
