Get to Know OL Reign Defender Alana Cook
Alana Cook, who was signed by OL Reign on a short-term contract on June 16, is always searching for her next big achievement. With OL Reign in 2020, that goal is clear: win the NWSL Challenge Cup.
Cook grew up in New Jersey. Her father, Bryan, met her mother Florence at work after coming over to the United States from England in his late 20s. Cook’s relationship with soccer began in her earliest years, spurred by her father’s connection to the beautiful game.
“I think as soon as I was able to play any sort of soccer – I was doing Kinder-Kickers when I was four or five, which at that point was glorified babysitting—that was the start of my soccer career,” Cook said, laughing. “We would always spend Saturday and Sunday mornings at the kitchen counter watching the (English Premier League) or whatever game we could get on tv. A lot of kids watched Saturday cartoons. I watched Saturday morning soccer.”
Despite her father’s affinity for his local club, lower-league side Oxford United, Cook says the two bonded through Manchester United who, as she put it, always seemed to be on television back then.
By her sophomore year of high school, Cook had committed to powerhouse Stanford University, a process she described as being made possible by her club team Match Fit Academy and The Pennington School where she studied.
“Match Fit helped me get to Stanford,” Cook said. “They supported us through the college recruiting showcases, facilitating the process of reaching out to coaches and getting us seen. Pennington were very supportive though. They helped make it so I could go to national team camps and go to college showcases. They were very accommodating of both my athletic and academic passions.”
Cook helped Stanford run rampant over the Pac-12 for four years, claiming four conference titles and a national championship as a junior in 2017. As a senior, she was honored on the All-Pac-12 First Team, the United Coaches All-Pacific Region first team, the 2018 All-America first team and as the 2018 Pac-12 Defender of the Year.
Cook was a consensus first-round pick for the NWSL College Draft following her senior season. The defender, however, wanted to keep herself open to all available options.
“All of my senior season, I was focused just on the college season,” Cook said. “I didn’t want to focus on anything else until it was time. After we lost the College Cup and things settled down, I started working with an agent who wanted to put out feelers in Europe and see what might be available. I was more than happy to go to the NWSL draft and go that route. I think the NWSL is an incredible league. One day, my agent reached out and said ‘hey, PSG are interested. Does that interest you?’ If I hadn’t had interest from clubs overseas, I would have happily gone into the NWSL, but it just worked out for me to go to France. It’s one of those opportunities that I didn’t want to miss out on, both from a soccer standpoint of joining such a big club but also just I thought ‘what an opportunity to challenge myself and see what I’m made of.’ A chance to embrace a different style of soccer and a different culture and see what I can do.”
Going to play at one of Europe’s biggest clubs, Cook drew strength and inspiration from the fact that other Americans at whose level she wished to one day compete—like teammate Allie Long—had played for the same club.
Playing in France afforded Cook more opportunities to expand her game, like playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
“I think the coolest thing was getting to play in the Champions League,” Cook said. “If you had told my younger self that grew up having grown up and watched men’s games in that competition that I was going to get to play in games like that, I would have never believed it. Getting to walk out there and have my first Champions League experience against Chelsea in the quarterfinal, I was able to think about how far I have come and how far women’s soccer has come. We didn’t wind up progressing, but I think it was a marquee moment of my career that showed how much is possible to achieve.”
Cook’s achievements didn’t go unnoticed on the international level. Eligible to represent England through her father, she received a call-up to Phil Neville’s Lionesses squad as a training player for friendlies against Portugal and Brazil in September 2019.
“I had obviously been in the U.S. system my whole life, having grown up here,” Cook said. “Before the England call-in, I was in the U.S. U23 team that played in England as part of the Nordic Tournament and played a few matches there. Honestly, I hadn’t even thought of my ability to play for England before I got to PSG and they mentioned that they had contacts over there. I thought, ‘you know, as a career choice, why would I not explore both and see what’s out there.’ I have heritage from both nations and I’m proud of both sides of my family. It was definitely something that I wanted to see for myself.”
Cook had a chance to train under Phil Neville, whose Manchester United sides she had been so enamored with at the breakfast bar with her father years before, and tremendously enjoyed the experience.
One month later, the U.S. Women’s National Team called Cook in to training camp. On November 10, Cook started and played the full 90 minutes for the WNT in a friendly against Costa Rica and OL Reign teammate Shirley Cruz—a 6-0 win for the U.S.
“It was nice to know that there was still interest (from the U.S.) and that the reaction was to call me back in and make sure that I knew that there was still interest there,” Cook said. “The decision is still technically to be made, but it was cool getting called back into the U.S. and getting so see what (U.S. WNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski) was all about.”
Beyond the satisfaction of the federation of making sure she felt wanted, Cook’s appearance against Costa Rica fulfilled another long-standing dream. Having represented the United States since she was 13 years old, that friendly was Cook’s first chance to represent the Stars and Stripes at the senior level.
“It was pretty surreal,” Cook said. “You’ve watched these players. You’ve watched this level. I’ve always aspired to play at this level. Getting my first opportunity to play there is a dream come true. It’s a reminder of what I can achieve and that there’s so much more that’s possible. You set a goal, you accomplish and then you have to move the bar higher. It’s been awesome to look back on my progression and then set another higher goal.”
Asked what the biggest takeaway from entering the professional ranks is, Cook highlights the importance of accountability.
“I think the biggest thing, and I think it’s the biggest step to playing professionally anywhere, is maturity and the level of responsibility you have over your own development,” Cook said. “Coming out of college, I’d like to think I was very mature, but once you hit the pros, the onus for development is so much more on you. Having to do that in a foreign country where there can be a language breakdown or it can be a little more difficult to communicate, I think it’s required of me to take so much more ownership of my growth as a player and the goals that I have set for myself.”
Regarding her ongoing development, Cook has highlighted the strong veteran presence on OL Reign as a potential boost to her and her young teammates’ continued development ahead of the NWSL Challenge Cup.
“It’s tough,” Cook said. “It’s such a quick preseason and everyone is so focused on getting everything right on the field. I think what I’ve really appreciated is that there are so many veteran players here who have so much wisdom and advice to give out. They’re genuinely trying to help the younger players and everyone on the team get on the same page and learn the lessons that they’ve already learned. Getting to play with players like Jess Fishlock, Allie Long, Lauren Barnes, people who have been in the league and playing soccer for as long as I’ve been watching is pretty amazing. I’m just so excited to have the opportunity to learn from them and I think their experience just trickles down to the rest of the team. Everyone wants to see everyone else succeed and be well supported.”
Staring down the barrel of her latest high-level challenge—a potential for seven matches in 26 days in a knockout tournament like the Challenge Cup—Cook is embracing the adversity that she and the rest of OL Reign face.
“I’m super excited,” Cook said. “I think the NWSL is one of the best leagues in the world. I think the best part is that every single game you play, it’s an all-out competition. There won’t be any blowouts or mismatches in talent or level. It’s going to be an awesome challenge. That’s how you grow, by getting to play those competitive games. That’s how you get better.”