Coming from a family of soccer players, junior Brooke Wilkinson has been playing soccer since she was three years old. “It runs in the family,” she said as both her father and brother played. 

Playing for multiple different club teams, starting at Eastside Thorns and then making a switch to Thorns Academy for two and a half years, Wilkinson is now currently playing for FC Portland and has been on La Salle’s varsity team since her freshman year as a left back being in a more defensive position and occasionally a right or left wing position that attacks the ball more but also has defensive tendencies. 

Wilkinson enjoys playing for her club teams as well as the high school team, but appreciates different aspects from the two. The part that she enjoys most about high school soccer are the friendships she has made. “It’s really fun,” Wilkinson said. She values the team bonding aspect that the high school team offers and uses the friendships made from bonding as motivation to play. 

As for her club team, she enjoys how the activity gets her out of the house, is something to do other than school, and serves as a good source of exercise. 

During Wilkinson’s freshman year, the girls soccer team made it all the way to state finals, creating her favorite memory from playing high school soccer. Sadly, that year, the girl’s team fell to Wilsonville High School 4-2. 

Before every game, Wilkinson carefully considers her hairstyle, as she won’t wear the same hair style from a game her team lost in. “I don’t braid my hair anymore,” she said after experiencing a loss wearing braids. 

As the team is in the playoffs, during practices, they are working a lot on penalty kicks. They’re “a big part of playoffs,” Wilkinson said. The team also scrimmages a lot with themselves or against the JV team.

Wilkinson loves her teammates and compliments Coach Andrew Frazier for being able to prepare them for the next game by letting the team know what to expect from future competitors by giving some background on each team. 

Her coaches are “definitely supportive,” Wilkinson said. “They’re there for us.” They also understand how important school is and are understanding when they need to talk to a teacher after school. 

Wilkinson looks up to Simone Charley, a player from the Angel City FC, as “she’s a really good person,” she said. “She’s had a lot of injuries, but has come back from all those.” 

Wilkinson admits that handling both school and sports can be challenging. To help overcome this challenge she likes to come before school to get help and uses the peer tutoring program. “Most of the teachers are pretty supportive,” she said. 

Currently, her favorite class is English with English teacher Mr. Paul Dreisbach as “it’s a lot of fun,” Wilkinson said. She also likes Director of Community and Student Leadership teacher Ms. Adriana Noesi. 

Wilkinson is currently getting help from her club coach to start the recruiting process and wishes to continue playing in college after her time at La Salle. “I hope to go D3,” she said. Right now, Wilkinson is looking to go somewhere on the East Coast or in California.