Head Coach Lisa Joel, athletic director and coach of Girls Soccer (GVS) has been involved with soccer and athletics for her whole life. She grew up playing soccer, basketball, and lacrosse and captained all three teams at Amherst College. Joel also attributed a lot of her recent success to assistant coach Nouredinne El Alam, Instructor in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, who brings a lot of positive energy to the GVS team and valuable experience as a retired player himself.
Joel described how she started playing soccer at a young age and pursued it through co-ed teams and at the collegiate level. She also mentioned how her early experience allowed her to experiment with other sports rather than just soccer in college.
“Like a lot of GVS players, I started playing soccer in elementary school. This would have been in the 1980s. It was town soccer. I grew up in Rhode Island, and it was co-ed teams, but mostly boys, with some girls on it. It was only within your town; there was no club soccer until the last decade and a half,” said Joel.
She continued, “Then I went to high school and college to continue playing soccer… I was able to play multiple sports in college because there were no sports specialization or club teams. I went from soccer season right into basketball season, then into lacrosse season. It wasn’t super common, but it wasn’t impossible like it is now.”
At Andover, she started as an assistant coach for soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Joel detailed how her coaches in college helped motivate and inspire her to become a coach, especially her soccer coach.
Joel said, “When I was in college, all three of my coaches were women. In particular, my college soccer coach, Michelle Morgan, who is a bit of a legend in women’s soccer, was hugely impactful in how she coached us. You didn’t know at the time what a legend she was. She was involved with the U.S. Women’s team before 1999 when everyone knew about the U.S. Women winning in the Rose Bowl. Michelle Morgan and her impact on my life, and quite frankly, the lives of all the players she coached, was immense.”
She continued, “Coming to a job here and in my first year coaching the sports I played in college, as an assistant coach at the Varsity level, was just full circle. It was the perfect match and that led me to recognize the incredible coach I had.”
Lola Aguirre ’26 described Joel’s coaching style and how she can coach based on the current situation of the team. She added that Joel knows how to encourage fun on the team while also knowing when the team needs a serious presence.
“She coaches the team specific to their situation. Every team is different and every player is different, but she has a good balance between being strict and being fun, making practices and the games fun, and being able to help the team bond while at the same time improving. She does a great job balancing being strict and fun,” said Aguirre.
Ashley Dimnaku ’28 discussed how Joel believes that hard work on the field and selflessness is imperative to the success of the team. She spoke about her perspective of what Joel wants for the team.
“One of the main core values… is to always work your hardest. When playing soccer, Coach makes us think that if everyone on the team does their role, is unselfish, and is able to work together, we will always win every game, which will lead us to our biggest goal of winning NEPSAC [New England Preparatory School Athletic Council],” said Dimnaku.
Joel highlighted how valuable the experience of coaching at Andover is and how being a student-athlete at Andover in general can change people for the better.
“I’ve always felt that being a student-athlete and having this experience is transformative. Having done it as long as I have, I’m certain that at its best, the Andover athletic experience for many students is often the highlight of their Andover journey and education. Also, it’s the space where they probably find lifelong friends. It is not unusual that, over the years, when alums return, they often return to their teams and their coaches,” said Joel.
Joel continued, “You work hard in the classroom, and the playing field is just another classroom. The lessons learned and the relationships with coaches and teammates really transform and change people positively.”
