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Brooke Brown doesn’t recall the first time she met Barrington girls soccer coach Ryan Stengren.
But Stengren hasn’t forgotten it.
Brown was in fifth grade and participating in the District 220 elementary school track meet, a one-day event during which kids compete in Barrington’s football stadium.
Stengren, who teaches physical education at Countryside Elementary School, uses the meet to scout for future soccer players. Brown, whose main sports at the time were cross country and track, competed for Barbara B. Rose Elementary School.
“The fastest kids are usually your youth soccer players,” Stengren said. “Brooke was at a different school, but I knew at that point that someday she was going to be a part of our program.
“Obviously, I didn’t know then that she was going to have the success that she did in our program. But that’s the first time I noticed her.”
Since then, Brown, a senior, has developed into a star midfielder and helped the Fillies earn two state trophies.
The Cornell recruit had six goals and a team-high 13 assists as a sophomore, when Barrington went 17-3-2 and finished fourth in Class 3A.
Brown’s junior season was superb. She again led the Fillies in assists with 18 and increased her goal total to 16 as Barrington went 23-3 and finished second at state, losing 1-0 in a nine-round shootout to Metea Valley.
This season, she had six goals and four assists for the Fillies (6-0-1) through seven games.
Brown, who was an all-state selection by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association last year, didn’t foresee such excellence. But she knew she would play for Stengren one day.
“He did introduce himself at the district track meet, I think maybe when I was in sixth or seventh grade,” she said. “I think he also saw me at the fifth grade mile.
“I used to be a cross country and track runner. That was my main thing that I did. I was pretty good at it. But once I had running to do and then also soccer, it started to become hard because cross country is totally different running. So I focused on soccer.”
It was a fortuitous decision for both Brown and the Fillies. Stengren has watched her grow up over the years, as he has done with many of his players.
“It’s really cool because my wife is a middle school teacher, so sometimes I get to see the kids from elementary to middle school to high school,” Stengren said. “That’s pretty unique.
“That’s one of the things that I’ve probably enjoyed most about Brooke is getting to know her over these four years and building a strong relationship with her. She’s gotten better and better each year.”
Brown has played high-level club soccer with Eclipse Select but has also been with the Fillies throughout her high school career. Her freshman season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but she would have started.
Some Eclipse players don’t play high school soccer, but that was never a consideration for Brown.
“I loved club for Eclipse, and I had such a great experience,” she said. “I loved the competitive side because it was always so competitive at every practice.
“But I think for high school what is different is — obviously not trying to shame anything for Eclipse — but going to high school, you’re playing with your friends. You go to school with these girls every day. There is such a culture behind it, and we’re such a culture-built team. We always put the team first.”
For much of the past decade, Barrington has been the “first” team of Illinois girls soccer. Since 2013, the Fillies have earned seven state trophies, winning championships in 2017 and 2018 and finishing second in 2019 and 2022.
Brown found the thrill of winning at the high school level can’t be replicated in club soccer.
“It was just a whole different feeling,” Brown said. “There is nothing like it. I look forward to high school the minute high school ends. When June comes around, all I want to do is go back to high school season.”
That’s music to Stengren’s ears. He relishes coaching well-rounded players like Brown.
“She has the ability to score, which is great,” Stengren said. “She’s always a threat to score from the midfield area. She’s got a really good shot, probably better than what she even thinks. She’s also got to be our creator, too, because she can set people up with her passing ability.”
That’s a skill that can go unnoticed by fans, who know Brown more for her powerful free kicks than her subtle assists.
“She’s probably the best passing person on our team,” Stengren said. “Her passes break lines, they can get us from one side of the field to the other, but she’s also got a high soccer IQ.
“She’s very good at controlling the tempo of the game. She knows when to go, and she knows when to slow the game down. Sometimes we want to be more north-south, but she also knows when to go east-west for us too. She knows when we need to go with speed or slow up and show some patience.”
Brown attributes her success to having good vision, which allows her to see plays developing before defenders can react, leading to scoring chances for her teammates. But she acknowledges she could be more assertive about attacking the goal herself.
“I’m a little too unselfish in the final third,” Brown said. “I need to take more shots because I feel like (for) most people their first instinct is to shoot, and mine is always to pass.”
But those who know Brown say she never passes on trying to improve, a trait that has allowed her to reach elite status. For example, she has been working on getting faster. Despite her background in track, Brown saw a need to improve her speed.
“Two years ago, I wouldn’t say my speed was a strength, but I’ve been working on it a lot with a group at TNT in Mount Prospect,” she said. “It’s a track group. They’ve helped me a lot with speed. I try to contribute my speed into the game because I feel like speed kills in a lot of scenarios.”
As Brown continually strives to get better, it inspires teammates like senior defender Ellie Sanchez, a fellow co-captain who has been playing soccer with Brown since they were 9 years old.
“Brooke is special,” Sanchez said. “I’ve grown up with Brooke. We’re Barrington girls through and through.
“One thing that I’ve always admired about her, and maybe not a lot of people know, is her work rate and her desire to just always keep getting better really is one that kind of goes unmatched. She’s always trying to become the best player she can, always getting extra training and always pushing herself to be better. I give her credit because that’s not easy.”
That rubs off on the Fillies.
“It’s so contagious to all of us around her,” Sanchez said. “She’s a really special player, obviously not only being able to create great plays for herself, but she’s really selfless in the fact that she really sees the ball and creates a lot of opportunities for others around her.”
Barrington has had a long line of great leaders during Stengren’s 15-year tenure, and Brown has benefited from watching some and playing with others.
“The first Barrington game I went to was the state championship in eighth grade (a 1-0 shootout loss to Naperville North in 2019),” Brown said. “I know a bunch of the other captains like Kate Lubinsky and Ellie, they were there from probably sixth grade watching all the games. So I kind of came late to the game. I definitely wish I had watched more, especially since Barrington has been such a talented team for so many years.”
Sanchez said one of the reasons for that success is familiarity between the players.
“It really helps how our district is set up, how the Barrington schools feed only Barrington,” Sanchez said. “It helps just with that camaraderie and relationships and friendships.
“A lot of us have grown up together playing soccer, always looking up to the Barrington soccer program.”
Some of those kids, like Brown and Sanchez, grow up to be leaders. The example set by past captains has rubbed off on Brown, and it’s her turn to steer the ship.
“She’s gotten to see how the kids before her have led, and this year we’ve talked about that,” Stengren said. “She probably likes to lead by example more, and I’m trying to get her to be more vocal with the team because we need that from her. The kids really look up to her and respect her.”
And that’s not just because of Brown’s production.
“She’s highly coachable, and then she has a huge appetite to get better,” Stengren said. “She puts so much time on extra stuff, whether it’s speed and agility or sometimes she’ll train extra.
“Sometimes we need to slow her down because she’ll be knocking the ball around outside of our practices just to get other touches in.”
That might give people the impression that Brown concentrates on nothing but soccer, but that isn’t true. She’s just as diligent in the classroom.
“If you told me two years ago I was going to go to an Ivy League, I probably wouldn’t believe you,” she said. “I was looking at Big Ten and ACC schools.”
That changed during the summer before Brown’s junior year.
“I was at a two-day soccer ID camp, so I got a ton of exposure,” she said. “Cornell emailed me a few days after saying they had a lot of interest. (Coach Rob Ferguson) watched me like 14 times.
“It was scary, but it was also a good thing because I want him to make sure that he’s making the right decision and that I’m a fit for their program. I would not want to go to a school where I’m not fit for their program. Cornell was definitely my top option because it is such a good academic institution as well as providing good athletics.”
Brown should be prepared for that.
“School has been going really well,” she said. “Obviously, it’s hard to balance school, soccer and also have a social life, but it’s been working out pretty well for me so far. But going to the Ivy League is definitely going to be a whole new challenge and experience. It’s definitely going to be difficult, but I’m excited to see what I can do.”
So is Stengren.
“I think she’s got a high ceiling because she’s never satisfied,” Stengren said. “She wants to keep getting better. When she understands how good she can be and is confident with how good she is, she’s going to take it to another level.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
