Brandi Vega has been involved in soccer for as long as she can remember, but always as a player.
This week all that changed. Vega, the all-time leading scorer in Carson High history, has been hired as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma.
Vega will be re-united with two of her Washington State coaches — head coach Matt Potter and associate head coach Graeme Abel — at OU. Her position is unpaid as per NCAA regulations, and she’s going to be working at a nearby soccer academy as a youth soccer coach in addition to her responsibilities at OU.
“I’ll be doing everything an assistant coach usually does (at practice and games),” Vega said in a recent phone interview from Norman, Okla. “Coach Potter knew I was looking to get into coaching, and he had a spot open up, so he got in touch with me.
“The transition will be easier because they (Potter and Abel) know who I am, and I know who they are. There isn’t going to be a feeling out process. I can just jump right into it. I don’t have to take the time to get acclimated.”
Vega played for Potter for three seasons at WSU. In her four-year career at WSU, she scored 21 goals and added 13 assists.
“Coach Potter is very knowledgable,” Vega said. “Oklahoma made the NCAAs for the first time ever last season. The OU program is starting to take off.
“He is a good coach to play for. He’s smart about the game. He wants you to be a complete person, not just a good soccer player.”
Vega is eager to get started at OU, and believes she brings a lot to the program.
“I think my overall experience and the way I view the game,” Vega said when asked what would make her a good coach. “I think my attention to detail and the way I compete; the fire I bring.”
There’s no doubt about that last comment. Vega was arguably the fiercest competitor to ever don a Carson uniform.
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Vega has been busy since she finished her career at Carson. She scored 74 goals, and it easily could have been more. There were games when Carson was comfortably ahead when coach Randy Roser would move her to a non-attacking position or take her out of the game.
She played four years at WSU, earning all-conference second team as a senior. She had four game-winning goals as a freshman which tied for fourth best for a single season and ninth all time. She was an instant success the moment she stepped onto the Pullman campus.
After her junior year, she played for Vancouver in the women’s league, and then played a season for the Bay Area Breeze.
“I moved to Spain after that and played for Oviedo Moderno in the (16-team) Premier League,” Vega said. “It was pretty cool.”
No stats were available, but Vega did have a hat trick against Real Sociedal.
