Meadow earns 300th win as Rebels advance in girls soccer
VESTAVIA HILLS — What happened on Monday at Thompson Reynolds Stadium wasn’t supposed to happen on Monday at Thompson Reynolds Stadium.
Brigid Meadow should have reached her latest career milestone a week or two ago, before her Vestavia Hills High School girls soccer team opened the Class 7A state playoffs. But a couple of cancellations in the regular season altered that timeline.
The wait is now over.
Meadow, who has led the Rebels girls soccer program for the past 15 years, won her 300th game as a head coach on Monday evening. Her team defeated Hoover 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs.
“I’m passionate about the game. I’m passionate about my kids,” said Meadow, referring to her players. “Everything I do is just for them. I think if you are selfless and you lead by serving first, then I think it can lead to better things.”
Meadow, a Berry High School alumnus, said that she never thought about accumulating as many victories as she has. In fact, she said she didn’t even know how long she would coach.
Meadow spent one year at Hoover then took a three-year hiatus before arriving at Vestavia Hills in 2004. She has since juggled her responsibilities as an English teacher, soccer coach and mother of three boys — Bryce, Bruce and Jack.
“I have so much community support that my friends make it possible for me to be here,” Meadow said.
Vestavia Hills has won four state titles under her leadership, in 2005, 2007, 2016 and 2018. Madison Thompson has been with Meadow for all of them.
Thompson played for her from 2004 to 2008 and has been a Rebels assistant since 2015. As the final seconds ticked away on Monday, she wrapped in a full embrace the woman whom she considers one of her best friends.
“She coaches you, she lets you know she loves you, and she takes care of you,” Thompson said. “That’s the biggest thing is she cares.”
Meadow secured her 300th victory behind a stereotypical showing from a Meadow-coached team. The Rebels played physically, neutralized Hoover’s scoring opportunities and applied steady pressure offensively.
Lizzie Hill, Anna Grace Darty, Kaylee Dressback and Arden Young netted goals for Vestavia Hills. Hoover got its only point when the Rebels accidentally knocked the ball in their own goal.
Meadow said that her players weren’t satisfied with their performance despite the positive outcome.
“That’s just the kind of team we have,” she said. “They’re not satisfied unless they completely dominate.”
In that sense, Vestavia Hills has taken on the relentless personality of its coach. Thompson said that Meadow gives everything she has to everything she does, exemplifying the pursuit of perfection.
The Rebels completed the first undefeated regular season of Meadow’s career last week and are now 20-0. They have outscored their opponents 82-8.
“She is so great at getting her team to buy in and play hard,” Thompson said.
Vestavia Hills commemorated Meadow’s milestone by printing out pictures of her smiling face, affixing them to Popsicle sticks and distributing them to members of the program to display during a post-game picture. The photo was taken behind a congratulatory banner.
After all shots were snapped, Meadow took a minute to reflect on what all of this meant to her. Few coaches total 300 wins in only 16 seasons. The ones that do deadpan accordingly.
“It means we’re one step closer to winning state again,” she said.
The Vestavia Hills girls soccer team will face either Oak Mountain or Spain Park in the state quarterfinals later this week.