By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Any situation players in the Clarkston Girls Varsity Lacrosse team have on the field new head coach Melanie Alnaraie has experienced at least once.
And, chances are she has experienced it donning the Wolves uniform before graduating from Clarkston High School in 2018.
“I know what it’s like,” she said. “I have been there. I had my dreams come true. I hope I can make their dreams come true as well.”
Alnaraie shared she is very excited stepping into the role as head coach this season.
“I have been coaching for a couple years,” she said. “I kind of helped out as needed, but to have my own team is definitely something I was looking forward to, something I definitely felt like I was ready for.”
Alnaraie has been in Clarkston her whole life, and lacrosse is second nature for her.
“Lacrosse is my life. My brother plays at the high school We are a lacrosse family,” she said, adding in her free time she is watching lacrosse, going to coaching seminars and watching videos on how to be a better leader.

She played for 10-11 years beginning in middle school. Then, for the girls varsity lacrosse team for four years before graduating.
“I went away to college and ended up coming back home and going to Oakland University,” she said.
Halfway through her freshman year, her plans for playing change. She was injured and had to have two shoulder surgeries.
“My playing career was over,” Alnaraie said. “I started to coach and help out. I started to realize I liked coaching more than I did playing which as someone who was a die hard lacrosse player it was not something I expected. I thought my world was going to be miserable and my world was going to end not playing anymore. But I enjoyed it.”
She reached out to Rachel Vickers, then head coach for the girls varsity lacrosse team, to see if she needed help. At the time she didn’t.
Alnaraie took the opportunity to coach where she could at different programs as well as some clinics. She has experience coaching players ages five-years-old up to high school level. She coached some of the youth teams in Clarkston which included introducing lacrosse to some who had never played before.
“Rachel called me back and said she was ready for help last year,” Alnaraie said. “For me it was perfect timing. I had a lot of fun being the assistant coach last year. I learned a lot from Rachel on how to do the back end stuff – fund raising, support from the community. Now I am excited to do what I see is right, put my own twist on what I think the club needs as a whole. It’s definitely exciting. It’s a little nerve-racking because I am in charge of all of these girls. I want to do the best for them.”
She also shared it’s good to be in Clarkston, and she plans to be here for a while.
“For most when they finish high school, they can’t wait to get out, get away from their parents, and do their own thing,” she said. “For me, I work from home. My family just started a new business here in Clarkston. It all fell perfectly into my lap. I needed to be here for my family. I needed to be here to help the business running and help the program.
“It all came at the perfect time and made it possible for me to coach in Clarkston. Clarkston has been my home and it will continue to be my home as my business and my family are here.”
Alnaraie added she knows the girls lacrosse program has through a lot of head coaches. During her four years, she had three different coaches.
“We never got to know who was coaching us and they didn’t get to know us,” she said. “For me that was a big thing. I didn’t want to take this job unless this is where I was going to be for a while. Even if I move out of Clarkston, I will be around and be able to get to know the girls and the families.
“The best coach I had in college was there all four years I was there. Even though I wasn’t playing I was still helping out,” she continued. “To this day he still calls in, he still checks in on me, making sure I am doing well.
“And, that is something I want for these girls. Last year I got close to a lot of the girls really quick. They felt they could trust me and I had their best interest at heart. Some of those girls have reached out to me – some are joining lacrosse teams, I have written letters of recommendation. After one season I have built great relationships with the girls and their families, I can only imagine what that can do building up the girls lacrosse program.”
Alnaraie added everything she does she is doing for the players and the community.
“I love Clarkston,” she said. “It is my home and always will be. I couldn’t wait to get home to coach and to coach a team I was once part of is such a huge honor. This program made me who I was and Clarkston as a whole made me who I was. Clarkston Girls Lacrosse will be a force to reckoned with this season and hopefully for years to come.”
The girls season opener is Thursday, April 5, at North Farmington High School at 5:30 p.m. (It was originally on Wednesday but rescheduled due to weather.)
The Wolves home opener is Monday, April 10 against Rochester Adams High School at the Clarkston High School Stadium. Then, they head to Royal Oak High School on Wednesday, April 12. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

  Clarkston Girls Lacrosse, Girls Varsity Lacrosse