3 minute read
The Book Is Closed
Barry Brodsky and his wife, Jane, at their condo in Palm Desert, California, in January.
Barry Brodsky ends an amazing two decades as coach of the Birmingham Marian girls soccer team.
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STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Nineteen seasons. Nine Division 2 state championships and two runner-up finishes. Fourteen trips to the Final Four.
Those are the nuts and bolts of Barry Brodsky’s resume as coach of the Birmingham Marian High School girls soccer team.
With four consecutive state titles in his back pocket, a streak that was interrupted in 2020 by a season canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brodsky decided late last year to step down as the Mustangs’ coach.
He hasn’t had much time to think about how much he misses coaching these days as the spring season for girls soccer begins.
Brodsky, 66, is a certified public accountant with an office in Farmington Hills, and it’s income tax time for his clients.
“When I left Marian, I wanted to leave the program in good shape. It’s in good shape,” Brodsky said.
“I was actually the coach there for 20 seasons. That would have been a nice round number to say, but I don’t count the 2020 season. We only got in four pre-season practices before everything was shut down by the state.”
Brodsky said he carefully considered his resignation decision last summer, and informed Marian in November of his desire to resign.
Several factors swayed his decision to step down, he said, including the COVID-related death of Marian Athletic Director and good friend Dave Feldman in January 2021.
Feldman was always available to answer questions and provide guidance for a Jewish coach at a Catholic high school, Brodsky said, and tremendously supportive of Brodsky’s team.
Without a soccer season to prepare for, Brodsky was able to spend three months this winter with his wife Jane at a condo they have in Palm Desert, California.
Besides enjoying the nice California weather instead of dealing with a Michigan winter back home in West Bloomfield, “I can work remotely out there,” Brodsky said.
Brodsky wants to be able to communicate better with Spanish-speaking folks in California, so he’s been taking weekly online undergrad Spanish classes during the fall and winter semesters through the University of MichiganDearborn.
“I’m sure I’m the oldest student in my Spanish classes by a good 40 years,” said Brodsky, a 1973 Southfield-Lathrup High School grad and 1977 Michigan State University grad.
Brodsky earned a master’s degree in taxation from Walsh College in Troy in 1984.
Allie Brodsky, 26, played for her father for four seasons at Marian (2009-13), winning two state championships, before continuing her soccer career at Kalamazoo College.
She said her father’s decision to resign as Marian’s coach wasn’t an easy one.
“My dad isn’t one to walk away from something, especially something he loves,” Allie said. “I’m glad he’ll have more time for himself now. People don’t realize the amount of time a coach devotes to the job outside of practices and games.”
Allie said she and her father had a difficult talk before she decided to join him at Marian.
“He told me I had to prove to everyone -- him, the other coaches and players -- that I should be on the field playing,” she said. “When you’re 14, that’s not the easiest thing to hear.
“My dad was the best coach I ever had. He pushed me harder than anyone else. I wouldn’t be the person I am today (a second-year medical student at Central Michigan University) without his coaching.”
Allie said one of the secrets to her father’s success at Marian was his ability to individualize his coaching.
“He knew which girls he could yell at, and which girls he had to hold their hand a little,” she said. “He knew I could handle being yelled at.”
Brodsky is happy about Marian’s choice as his successor as coach. Reid Friedrichs, an assistant coach for four years, was promoted to coach last month.
“I can’t say enough good things about Marian,” Brodsky said. “I coached fantastic kids who excelled athletically and academically.”
Brodsky also was the boys soccer coach at Birmingham Groves High School and Birmingham Brother Rice High School, winning a state championship with Brother Rice in 2009.
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