Eastern Alamance names alumna Marisa Camuto new girls' soccer coach

Eastern Alamance High School has tapped a familiar face to lead its girls' soccer program, hiring 2017 graduate Marisa Camuto as head coach. A four-year player and former Eagles goalkeeper who spent a season at Greensboro College, Camuto steps into the role knowing she inherits a program with recent success and established expectations.

The Eagles won a state championship in 2023, the final season for long-time coach Bob Webber. Shawn Gibbs led the team the last two seasons. Both men had daughters on the team, a thread of family connection that continues with Camuto. She said she plans to draw on years of playing experience, travel-team training and lessons from multiple coaches. "With all the years of experience and all the coaches I’ve been trained by, I’ll pull things from those that I’ve liked," she said.

Camuto acknowledged the job will be a new challenge. "I’ve never coached before, so this is definitely going to be a learning curve," she said. "The good thing is I’m not coming into a team that doesn’t know what they’re doing." Her hiring came after a conversation with principal Suzanne Simpson at an Eastern football game this fall and a hiring decision a few months later.

The move has local implications beyond the pitch. Camuto works full time as an intensive care unit nurse at UNC Hospitals, including 12-hour shifts Friday through Sundays, so she emphasized practicality when discussing logistics. "It’s going to be tough, but I think it’s going to be rewarding," she said. That schedule suggests most weekday practices and weekday match responsibilities will need careful coordination, a realistic constraint for residents to keep in mind when planning attendance and support.

Family ties into the athletic department should help with continuity and conditioning. Her brother, AJ Camuto, is an assistant football coach at Eastern and will assist with the soccer team’s conditioning program. Their uncle, John Kirby, is a longtime football coach and former athletics director at the school, adding institutional knowledge to the transition.

For players and parents, the appointment signals continuity of culture and a preference for homegrown leadership. For the community, it underscores how school sports remain intertwined with family and local institutions—from the high school coaching staff to UNC Hospitals staff schedules. Expect early-season emphasis on fitness and fundamentals drawn from Camuto’s goalkeeper perspective and travel-team roots.

Our two cents? Show up to a match, offer a hand during practice logistics, and let the Eagles' nest get comfortable with one of its own at the helm. Support and patience now could pay dividends as Camuto turns player experience into coaching results.