Michael, Julie Brooker taking on new challenges

Michael Brooker figured that one day he would return to the sidelines as a basketball head coach.

After being the basketball head coach at FPD for seven seasons and an assistant at Mary Persons for another, Brooker found himself out of the game last year for the first time in his adult life.

It really wasn’t the fact that he didn’t enjoy his job at Team Sports, because he said he did, but the former North Carolina basketball player always felt like he would coach again if the right opportunity came along.

That opportunity came along about three weeks ago, when Brooker was named the basketball head coach at Lake Oconee Academy, a charter school in Greensboro that will be playing varsity basketball for the first time this fall.

“I feel like I am truly blessed to get a chance to start up the varsity basketball program at Lake Oconee Academy, and I feel like it is the perfect opportunity for me,” Brooker said. “But equally important is what this move will do for my family.

“With us still living in Macon, my wife Julie has been commuting to work at GMC, and that has really been tough with two young children. We all wanted to be able to spend more time together and with everything happening over the last three weeks we will be able to do that. This is truly a strong move for our family, and I can’t wait to get going.”

Brooker’s wife is Julie Brooker, who compiled a 106-27 record the past four seasons as the softball head coach at GMC. During that time, her teams won two GHSA Class A Public softball championships and was the runner-up the other two years.

She actually resigned a week before her husband got the Lake Oconee job.

“When I resigned, it was truly a leap of faith, because at the time Michael was interviewing for several jobs,” Julie Brooker said. “We knew that we needed to make a change because I have been commuting pretty much for the last eight years. So right now, I am interviewing for jobs that will allow me to be close to where we will be living, which will be somewhere in the Lake Oconee area. But we both feel great about the move and the time it will give us as a family.”

Julie Brooker admits she is very excited about her husband’s opportunity but said that it was very difficult leaving GMC.

“I am thrilled for Michael,” Julie Brooker said. “Basketball is his passion, and he loves the game so much that I didn’t think he would be away for too long. But leaving GMC was very difficult for me.

“When I told my players, I wanted to make sure that they knew it was not because of them but only for the betterment of my family. Family has to come first. It really is part crazy that I am leaving with what we have here, but I am very excited that my assistant, Allen Simmons is getting the job. He truly deserves it, and he has been a big part of growing this program.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Michael, Julie Brooker taking on new challenges."