Alberto Starace has has accumulated many achievements as a high-school soccer coach.
Now, Bishop O’Connell Knights‘ head girls coach can add to the list his selection to the Arlington Sports Hall of Fame.
Starace has been O’Connell’s coach for 39 years, leading the private-school team to 542 wins, multiple Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championships and a number of state titles. One of his teams finished ranked No. 1 in the country.
Overall as a girls high-school head coach, Starace’s teams have won 671 games. The total includes 129 games as the head coach at Madison High School in Vienna.
Madison is a public-school team that plays during the spring season, while O’Connell competes in the fall. Starace coached both for a number of seasons.
In addition, Starace has coached many players who have gone on to compete and stand out in college. Four of his high-school players earned Gatorade Player of the Year awards.
Starace also has been a successful coach of travel soccer teams for many years. Adding those victories to his high-school wins, Starace’s teams have won more than 1,000 soccer games.
The other new Arlington Sports Hall of Fame addition is Gabriella “Kika” Toulouse. She is a 2007 O’Connell graduate and a four-year soccer standout who played for Starace.
Toulouse received all-conference and all-state awards for O’Connell. In college, she enjoyed a successful college career at the University of Virginia.
Toulouse was a member of the Under-23 U.S. Women’s National Team in 2011-12 and played professionally from 2011-14, including being drafted by the Washington Spirit.
Starace and Toulouse will bring the number of Arlington Sports Hall of Fame inductees to 74 since its founding in 1958. The induction dinner is scheduled for Oct. 8 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Arlington.
More information on the event can be found at www.arlsportshof.org or by contacting contact president Peter Weilenmann at [email protected].
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