By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Alison Thomas looks back fondly on her time as a Western Alamance girls’ soccer player and all the success achieved by the Warriors.
She’ll have a chance to put the finishing touches on the high school portion of her playing days with Tuesday night’s North Carolina East-West All-Star Game in High Point.
“I don’t have much to complain about from my high school playing,” Thomas said. “We accomplished so much.”
Western won the 2025 state championship and reached regional finals in two other seasons, including this spring. Thomas played primarily as a mid-fielder.
Before competing in college for Division II USC Beaufort, Thomas will play for the West team next week. The West coach is Western Alamance’s Camden Brooks.
Thomas said it’s cool to have Brooks as part of the experience and that the East-West Game is a good way to close this phase.
“I like to have challenges,” she said. “I’m just excited to be on the field again. I still have more opportunities.”
Thomas said some players who were her NC Fusion teammates will be in Tuesday’s game. She said her recruiting picked up last summer after the Warriors won the program’s first state championship.
“It’s definitely exciting to get picked for this,” she said.
Brooks is the boys’ and girls’ coach at Western, where both teams have won state championships. He was selected for the East-West All-Star coaching role last summer and then finished his fifth season as girls’ coach this spring.
Having one of his Western players on the West team is a nice element, Brooks said, particularly with how he has seen that Thomas can adjust to different situations.
“She has just been a leader all four years,” he said.
Teams report to Greensboro on Sunday, when there will be a banquet. They have two practice sessions Monday and another Tuesday morning in advance of the game.
So it’s a matter of putting things together in a hurry from a tactical standpoint.
“I’ve been able to coach in a few of these types of games,” Brooks said. “You get a day or two to see these kids. It’s a bunch of new kids coming in and you have to form a little bit of an identity.”
For Thomas, the few days should be beneficial.
“She’s going to go through it in college when she doesn’t know anyone at the beginning,” Brooks said. “I have confidence she’s going to come in and gel real well with the other players.”
The game is set for 6:30 p.m. at Truist Point, followed by a boys’ game at 8:30 p.m.
