ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Rachel Baker has a lot on her plate these days.

Juggling Varsity Girls Soccer and Junior Varsity Cheerleading coaching responsibilities plus teaching Business Marketing classes at Robertsdale High School keeps her pretty busy but it’s all good as far as she’s concerned.

“My players are what keep me going. All of them are great girls and they make me laugh and keep me young. I try to let them know that if they need anything they can always talk to me. I may be hard on them sometimes and they may be scared of me but I would do anything for them,” said Baker, who is in her fourth year at RHS.

Her passion for soccer began at age four when she started playing on city leagues in Louisiana where she grew up and it continued until she got a soccer scholarship to the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama. Baker played all four years and was the Captain her senior year.

Moving to Foley in 1990 with her family and graduating in 2002 from Foley High School, Baker received a B.A. in Business Management from Montevallo in 2007 and accidentally happened upon a teaching career.

“One of my friends said something to me about teaching and asked if I would be interested and I said , ‘sure, why not?’ and i interviewed for the job and got it in 2007.

Gaining her alternative teaching certification and willing to coach the volleyball team, Baker was hired and told it would only be for a year because of impending budget cuts and teacher cutbacks but she has been one of the fortunate ones who has kept her job and coaching position as well.

“I coached the volleyball team for two years and helped with the soccer team. I became the soccer coach in 2008 and gave up the volleyball team. I also started with J.V.. cheerleading and we practice for that during fourth block,” Baker said.

Beginning conditioning practice for soccer in January, Baker said they had their first game on Monday against Faith. Their last regular season game is on April 14 and then they have the playoffs.

“We aren't playing any tournaments this year and most of our games are on Tuesday and Thursday. We have 20 9-12th grade girls his year (three freshmen) and some pretty good rivalries. We are constantly moving,” Baker said.

Sharing her love of sports with other people is one of Baker’s favorite aspects of coaching. “I can teach them new things and help them find their individuality. We have several that could play in college but it’s much faster pace in college and they would have to really keep up.”

The J.V.. Cheerleading squad, consisting of 10 freshmen and sophomores, will have their tryouts in March with dancing, cheering, jumping and tumbling with the seniors teaching them, Baker said.

One of the things Baker tries to do for her students is to keep it real.

“I can talk to them and try to let them know that life is different after high school. I still think I know what college is like and so I try to teach them so they will be ready for college or whatever path they choose. I don’t teach a core subject but I try to show them things they will eventually need whether it be a college course, a job out of high school or hopefully a job out of college. I really hope I can reach these students so they know they can do whatever they want. They can change if they want to and make goals for themselves and eventually reach those goals,” Baker said.

Coming from an athletic-minded family, Baker, along with her parents, Jim and Pam Baker and her sister, Rebecca, who is also a teacher in Georgia, likes to run in different races in her spare time and sometimes makes it a family event. “I love running with my dad and was able to do a half-marathon in Orange Beach this past year.”