Meet

Brett McCabe

Dedicating his life to sports, new Director of Athletics and Physical Education Brett McCabe joins Nueva, ready to improve athletics program

The day new Director of Athletics and Physical Education Brett McCabe achieved his lifetime goal of being professionally drafted, he was not there to hear his name called on live TV. In fact, he didn’t even know it was happening—thanks to Airplane Mode.

Flying back from a workout session in Houston to Sacramento, McCabe had no idea that he had just been drafted to the Chicago Cubs organization. When he finally touched down in his hometown and spotted his parents sporting Cubs gear and the classic red, blue, and white, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had finally achieved his childhood dream.

“It was crazy they knew before me but even more special to share that moment with my family,” McCabe said.

Growing up with an innate love of sports, McCabe excelled in basketball, baseball, and football—ultimately earned the choice to play any of them in college. He found himself on the sidelines of sporting events whenever he was not on the field.

“Sports were always a part of me and that’s all I remember wanting to do growing up. If I wasn’t doing it in an organized activity through a team, I was doing it around the house, shooting hoops, or just throwing the football,” he said.

To McCabe, athletics was a way “to get ahead in life.” Coming from a lower-income family, once he realized his natural talent for the game, he set his eyes on receiving a college scholarship.

“It fueled me to work harder in high school. I wanted to take that burden of money off my parents,” he said. “I chose to play baseball rather than football or basketball because it had the most opportunities to play professionally.”

After receiving a division one baseball scholarship from Washington State University, McCabe was drafted by the Chicago Cubs during his junior year of college.

McCabe will never forget signing the contract, donning a Cubs jersey for the first time, his first professional hit, and his first home run.

“The guy was throwing around 95 miles per hour but he didn’t have very good offspeed pitches,” he recalled. “And so I was sitting dead-red fastball, he gave it to me, I squared up, and I hit it to left center for my first homerun. It was a crazy, surreal feeling.”

McCabe went on to play two years with the Chicago Cubs with a .270 career batting

Triple threat

average.

When it came time to hang up his number 23 jersey—a tribute to his favorite athlete, Michael Jordan—and retire from the diamond in 1995, McCabe knew that even if he couldn’t play anymore, he would continue to work in athletics from a coaching and administrative standpoint.

“I always knew I was gonna play the game as long as I could,” McCabe said. “I wanted to go into coaching because my coaches gave me all this knowledge and helped me along the way to get to where I am. I’d love to do something similar, to give back in some way.”

Released by the Cubs in 1994, McCabe transitioned to coaching at the collegiate level while earning his master’s degree from South Dakota State University. After two years, he became the head coach at division two school Augustana College where he worked for four years before transferring to the head coach at the University of Kansas, a division one, Big-12, and power 5 school.

“Like how I tried to climb the ladder as a player, I tried to do it as a coach. But after seven years of coaching at the college level, I wanted to do something different,” he said.

And to McCabe, “different” meant transitioning to a job where he could settle down and start a family. His newly desired lifestyle no longer permitted a coach's travel schedule or the 100-plus nights in hotel

One Nueva family plays on the same team as teammates, siblings, and twins

When the first goal of the soccer season hit the back of the net, the entire team was ecstatic. But perhaps nobody was as ecstatic as this Nueva family. Immediately, Alyse G-M. ’24 and Nancy G-M. ’26 sprinted across the field to congratulate their goal-scoring sister Patrice G-M. ’26, nearly knocking over bodies on their way.

For the family, soccer is integral in their life. Even though their parents came from a background of American football and dance, the kids stumbled into soccer. At five years old, Alyse signed up for AYSO (American Youth Soccer League), and the now freshman twins followed. Now the family travels around the country for club tournaments and the girls play club soccer year round (their parents have finally learned what offsides means). The three sisters, however, were never able to play on the same team; the age difference was always too large. Other than a short stint during the peak of the pandemic, they never practiced together either and only hoped to eventually play together.

“I remember in sixth or seventh grade when [Alyse] was first applying to Nueva, I would count down the years until we would play soccer together because I thought that’d be so cool,” Patrice said.

Now with the whole family at Nueva, they are learning to play together and adjusting to Nueva’s sports culture: a system that values community, progression, and style of play more than the result.

“Our coach, Daniel [Zerabruk], fosters that because we could be winning 6-0, but if he doesn’t like the style of play, he’ll tell us,” Alyse said.

This is refreshing for the sisters after spending so long in club soccer, where it is easy to become lost in the greater expectations for results. On the field at Nueva, it is the teammates who develop the culture of community.

The family describes the support system their teammates provide as constructive, trusting, and one that expands beyond soccer. For the twins especially, this relationship was comforting; the upperclassmen, although rooms trying to recruit high school athletes. McCabe’s most recent job and first experience as an Athletics Director was at the Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, Texas, where for ten years, he helped expand the six-year-old athletics program by building

“As an athletics director, I know there are a lot of things I have to do administratively, but at the end of the day, the thing I get the most excited about is that I get to just be a fan. I get to go to all the games, watch us play, and support our student-athletes. There’s nothing better than that.” infrastructure and facilities. Describing the transition out of collegiate coaching as a “leap of faith,” looking back, McCabe has “no regrets whatsoever.”

“I ultimately got to do what I still love to do which is to be involved in athletics, while making a living and supporting my family,” he said. “I love being around kids, I love helping them, and I got to do that for most of my life. I’ve been very fortunate.”

After a decade in Texas, McCabe boarded yet another Texas-California flight, deciding it was time to be closer to his family.

Back in the Bay Area, McCabe joined Nueva as the new Director of Athletics and Physical Education midway through the 2022-2023 school year.

“From an athletics standpoint, Nueva is relatively new so I looked at that as a great challenge. And just from meeting with all the people on both campuses, I got a feeling I would be comfortable and supported here,” he said.

Just four weeks into his transition, McCabe already made plans to improve athletic facilities, equipment, and coaching by working with the Director of Track/Cross Country, PE Teacher and Athletic Admin Support Robert Lopez, and Athletic Trainer Keiloni Smith.

“Some major improvements in facilities and equipment are going to be made as soon as the beginning of next year,” he said. “We’re going to give [our student athletes] everything necessary for them to have a positive experience and hopefully then, be as good as they can be.”

Yet, beyond bettering athletic resources, McCabe’s ultimate goal remains to ensure student-athletes make the most of their high school athletic experiences.

“Not everyone’s going to go on to college and play. Some just wanna have a great high school experience, and that’s what we want to be able to provide for them.”

Off-court, McCabe has already begun cultivating connections with students, parents, and coaches by attending games and sporting events, introducing himself at practices, and “doing everything [he] can to be present.”

“As an athletics director, I know there are a lot of things I have to do administratively, but at the end of the day, the thing I get the most excited about is that I get to just be a fan,” McCabe said. “I get to go to all the games, watch us play, and support our student-athletes. There’s nothing better than that.” intimidating at first, have become people the freshmen have created close bonds with, allowing them to meet people outside of their grade.

Located in 182 at the end of the athletics hallway, McCabe’s office is always open. He hopes students will pop in to introduce themselves and talk about all things sports.

“Especially Patrice and I, being freshmen and not knowing many people to talk to… we already have more people we can talk to,” Nancy said.

Ultimately, this season of Nueva girls soccer has been incredible for the team’s successes both on and off the field. For this family, it has been a different kind of incredible.

“Playing on the team has been the best soccer experience I’ve had in a long time, if not ever,” Alyse said. “It’s a good combination of community and competition, which is a hard balance to keep. And having the twins here has made it even more fun.”