Cooper draws on soccer career as coach at WTC

Image
  • Western Texas College women’s soccer coach Fanta Cooper (left) gives player Mary Birdwell some advice during a training session this week.
    Western Texas College women’s soccer coach Fanta Cooper (left) gives player Mary Birdwell some advice during a training session this week.
Body

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a four-part series featuring local residents during Black History Month.

As a soccer player, Fanta Cooper was an all-conference performer and spent nearly a decade playing on the professional level.
Now, she is using her knowledge of the game to give back as a coach.
Cooper has been the head women’s soccer coach at Western Texas College (WTC) for two seasons. She said she didn’t envision herself as a soccer coach growing up, but said the profession came pretty naturally to her.
“I wanted to be a teacher initially,” Cooper said. “But soccer kind of took over and coaching is sort of an extension of teaching, so it just worked itself out.”
Cooper grew up in Oklahoma City and played college soccer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she was a four-time all-conference selection from 1997 to 2000.
She started every game for the Lady Panthers and led the program to its first NCAA Division I Tournament in 1997.
In 2008, she was named to the university’s 25th anniversary team. In 2014, Cooper was inducted into the university’s athletic Hall of Fame.
In 2001, Cooper was drafted by the Carolina Courage of the Women’s United Soccer Association. She would play professionally for several teams in the United States and Sweden until 2010.
Following her playing career, Cooper got into the coaching profession. She was a graduate assistant coach at Eastern New Mexico State University for one season and was promoted to assistant coach.
Cooper said coaching appealed to her because she enjoys giving back to young players.
“It’s about seeing players develop and knowing that the time and effort you put into teaching them, something paid off,” Cooper said. “I hope to one day get that phone call from a former player, saying, ‘I remember that time you did this for me,’ or ‘I remember that season and just wanted to thank you.’ It’s all about paying it forward.”
Cooper left Eastern New Mexico in 2014 to become the head coach at WTC. Though none of the Scurry County high schools have school-sponsored soccer teams, Cooper said she believes there is still great potential for the sport to grow in West Texas.
“When you look at the youth level, at places like the Boys and Girls Club, I see it growing tremendously,” Cooper said. “I think it’s a sport that provides kids more fitness than a lot of other sports, too.”
Cooper said one of her main motivations when it comes to coaching has been her desire to provide players with a positive female role model. Cooper said throughout her playing and coaching career, she has seen very few female soccer coaches.
“I went through my whole playing career, from age 12 to age 32, and had two female coaches,” Cooper said. “I think being someone who played college and pro ball, I kind of have an opportunity to have an impact on these girls. I try to talk to the girls about giving back.”