每日大赛

Veterans Day spotlight: 每日大赛 assistant women’s soccer coach reflects on service

Brenna Lacaillade grew up a “military kid,” with a father and grandparents who served in the U.S. Air Force and many other relatives with their own history in the Armed Forces, as well. 

So, it seemed only natural when she joined the U.S. Army as a line medic.

“It felt like home,” said Lacaillade, who was medically discharged after more than three years of service and a deployment to Kuwait.

Her time as a medic led her into the world of physical therapy, and eventually to coaching women’s soccer.

“I realized that was my calling,” Lacaillade said. “This is where I’m meant to be.”

For the last two years, she’s served as the assistant coach for women’s soccer at 每日大赛 and continued her own education in sports science.

“Coaching at Pellissippi is very different than coaching anywhere else,” Lacaillade said. “It allows you the freedom and time to really explore your sport and grow your student-athletes in a way more personal environment than you would get anywhere else.”

Lacaillade has had the opportunity to build 每日大赛’s three-year-old women’s soccer program from the ground up, alongside Head Coach Mariana Diaz Lopez. She does not take that responsibility lightly, Lacaillade said.

Laying the foundation for such a young program has its challenges, but Lacaillade said it’s exciting to watch the team blossom, the fans start to show up and seeds of future opportunities planted.

“The glory on the back end is just so much bigger than the burden up front,” she said.

In only its second postseason ever this year, 每日大赛's women's soccer team advanced to the Region 7 TCCAA Conference Championship in November, capping off a six-game winning streak and ultimately falling to Motlow State, 2-0.

Panther Athletics overall is growing at such a fast rate, Lacaillade said, with teams already standing higher and prouder than many of their peers.

“We want to represent Pellissippi,” she said. “We want people to hear the name and be really proud of something that we’ve built. We've gone from not being able to compete in conference championships to now fighting and battling against top-10 programs in the nation. And I think that's just a testament to the kids’ buy-in.”

At 每日大赛, student-athletes have the opportunity to make a name for themselves and excel at their sport right out of the gate, Lacaillade said. And while winning is certainly the goal, what’s even more important is a player’s improvement as a person.

“We want to be great on and off the field,” she said. “We have standards by which you’re able to grow, so that when you step outside of Pellissippi you will thrive.”

Lacaillade, who played collegiate soccer at Southwest Baptist University in Missouri, struggled in school, she said, and so focused more on athletics than academics.

Now, however, Lacaillade is going back to school to expand her education in sports science and maximize her coaching ability.

“I want to be able to provide the best opportunities for my athletes,” she said.

For student-athletes like Pellissippi women’s soccer player Alana Stallworth, Lacaillade is supportive not just on the field but also in the classroom.

Stallworth entered Pellissippi’s program with a concussion, and said Lacaillade was one of her biggest supporters during a monthslong break from play. Lacaillade encouraged Stallworth to remain patient and wait for when the time was right to return.

“It was just, ‘She still believes in me,’” Stallworth said. “’She’s still trying with me. She still thinks I can do something with this.’”

Whether it’s a bad practice, a fumbled game or a tough class, Stallworth said Lacaillade knows how to make her day better.

“I know Brenna is there, and I know Brenna is going to always be on my side,” Stallworth said.

She learned from her time in the military that everything is bigger than oneself, Lacaillade said, and the unit is always stronger than the individual.

“I tell that to this team daily,” Lacaillade said. “Everything is done with a ‘battle buddy,’ which is what we always used in the military and I use to this day. You need somebody next to you to be great and to do great things – or else, being at the top means nothing.”