Baylor student breaking barriers as female high school football coach

When Aleena Garcia was a 7th grader at Waco’s Live Oak Classical School, she got good news: Live Oak was starting a football team. For an avid sports fan and athlete like Garcia, a football team meant opportunity. But she also received some bad news that year: Her parents weren’t going to let her play. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t sway them.

Now, eight years later, this Baylor sophomore is doing something few other women in the country have ever done — coaching varsity football. After accepting that she couldn’t play football for Live Oak, Garcia took on a role as manager, a job she continued throughout her high school career. As Live Oak’s football program grew, she grew with it, adding to her responsibilities as she mastered any task the coaches sent her way. That growth led to her becoming an assistant football coach for Live Oak last year.

“Sports are a very big part of my life,” Garcia says. “I’ve always liked sports, and loved football. I love the ins-and-outs, the strategy. I just wanted to be a part of the football team, and I was able to be there from the beginning of the program. They never made me prove myself differently. It was always just, ‘Aleena’s here doing her job.’”

Her foremost responsibility is running the scout team offense. She breaks down film each week of the upcoming opponent, then instructs the scout team how they can best play like the opponent to help prepare the defense for what’s ahead. She also keeps stats and oversees equipment, making sure the managers have everything they need. To accomplish all this, she gets up at 5 a.m. every day to be at practice by 6. After practice, she turns her attention to her Baylor classes.

“Aleena understands what we are trying to do,” Live Oak head football coach Jordan Barker says. “She is solely responsible for charting our opponents’ plays for the scout team. She’s an outstanding, hardworking person who is very loyal. When she finishes her education, she will be able to do anything she wants and be good at it — including coaching football, if she so desires.”

Like most high school coaches, Garcia’s responsibilities don’t end with football; she’s also an assistant coach for Live Oak’s girls’ basketball, baseball, and track and field teams. She knows she wants coaching to be a big part of her future, and she’s given a lot of thought to what it takes to be successful. She says she hasn’t given as much thought to the significance of her role as a varsity coach. To her, being around the Live Oak football team doesn’t seem so much groundbreaking as it does normal.

“I never really thought of it as breaking new ground,” Garcia explains. “I’ve always just been around the program. I grew up around it. But I realize that you don’t see this everywhere. Coaching is my passion. I really love it. … I just look forward to getting up in the morning and trying to help the team.”

Just how well is Garcia preparing her team to be ready for their opponents? The results speak for themselves. Last year, Live Oak reached the state title game, and they’re off to a 7-2 start this year as they strive to win it all — thanks in part to this Baylor student.

Sic ’em, Coach Garcia!