Coaches
Coach Al enters his 18th season at the helm of the PHS Girls’ Soccer Program. Under Coach Al, Parkland has won 2 LVC & 8 EPC titles of the programs total of 15 League titles along with 9 District XI Championships of the programs 16 DXI Titles. Al has been named League Coach of the Year and the Morning Call’s Coach of the Year 8 times. 8 times, his team was selected as the Team of the Year by the Morning Call. Coach Al played his soccer at Salisbury High & Penn State Hazleton as well as many of the open and senior clubs in the Lehigh Valley over the past 40 years. Coach earned his USSF “A” Coaching license back in 2003 and brings a tremendous amount of passion for soccer to the girls. Academics and Community Involvement are the foundation to this program. A Certified Investment Management Analyst, Senior Vice President Wealth Advisor and Senior Portfolio Manager at Morgan Stanley for over 38 years, Coach Al is married to the program’s #1 fan (Jeanne for 40 yrs) and finds his family growing, ironically all PHS Grads. Joel ‘03 and wife Brittany ‘06 and grandsons, Coleson & Jackson, Tony ’05, Megan ‘07 and husband Corey ’07 and grandson Nathan & granddaughter Addison.
Coach Al’s two favorite quotes: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle “You are never so tall as when you stoop down to help a child.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
Coach Jim has been Parkland’s JV coach since 2008. A native of Gates, NY (Rochester) coach played for Cardinal Mooney HS and St. John Fisher College. He continued to play for several adult teams after relocating to Upper Macungie in 1984. He began coaching in 1986 and earned his USSF National “C” license in 2003. Jim is vice president of ATAS International a leading manufacturer of metal roofing, walls, and accessories for the commercial, residential, and institutional markets. He and his wife Cindy have four children that graduated from Parkland, Michelle ’02, Tiffany ’05, Katie ’07, and Tony ’12. We are blessed with 7 grandsons Nathan, Jonah, Miles, Evan, Whitten, Clayton and Eli who attend our home games whenever possible.
Lauren Petri, aka “Peaches”, is a 2007 graduate of Northwestern Lehigh High School where she played soccer and basketball all four years. Throughout high school, she played club soccer with Parkland United/Parkland Area Soccer Club for Coach Al. She continued to play soccer collegiately at Muhlenberg College while earning Bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Philosophy. Peach works at ATAS International and continues to challenge the players in accomplishing physical and technical limits.
Aly Barlok is a 2015 graduate of Parkland High School where she played soccer for four years. She went on to play collegiately for four years at Marywood University and graduated with her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 2020. Aly is a Speech-Language Pathologist in the Parkland School District. This will be her 4th season with Parkland Girls’ Soccer.
A 2017 PHS graduate, Rachel played both Soccer (2x All-State) and Basketball. She continued her academic and soccer career at DeSales University. Rachel joined the staff in August 2022 and is excited to start her 3rd year back in the program she loves so much. Rachel is a RN at LVHN in the prenatal care unit.
Becky Wakeman joined Parkland High School Girls Soccer as the goalkeeper coach in 2020 and is back for her 4th season. Wakeman is a Lehigh Valley local and graduate of Easton Area High School, where she was a four-year varsity letter winner in girls’ soccer. She also was a seven-year member of the Lehigh Valley “Premier” Soccer Club.
Wakeman’s collegiate career for Houghton College boasts many accomplishments, including a fifth-place final NAIA national ranking, AMC North Division champions, NAIA Region IX champions, and reaching the Sweet 16 of the NAIA Tournament.
When she’s not on the soccer field, Wakeman excels in the field of nursing as a registered nurse supervisor for a rehabilitation center. She is also a dedicated doggie mom to two beautiful and spoiled pups, Von and Dakota.