Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus #1 Stanford on December 5, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 1
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Final
Women's Soccer
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vs #1 Stanford
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Photo by: Shane Lardinois
Jane Alukonis: At Duke and Beyond
1/17/2021 8:17:00 AM | Women's Soccer
By Nicole Monsalve, Duke Communications Student Assistant
DURHAM, N.C.-- It is often assumed that playing for a Division I institution like Duke often limits what an athlete can do off the field, but there are athletes like Jane Alukonis, class of '09, who are proof that collegiate athletes at Duke are not bound to just their athletic engagements during and after their four years.
A four-year starter under Duke head coach Robbie Church, Alukonis started 76 of her 84 matches tallying five goals and 11 assists for 21 points throughout her career. Her success did not stop there. As senior team captain she was selected to the All-ACC Academic Team and finished her run with the Blue Devils as a four-time ACC Honor Roll selection and with the ACC Top Six for Service Award for her volunteer efforts at Duke.
Upon graduating with a degree in both political science and sociology with a minor in psychology, Alukonis was encouraged by one of her teammates to teach for three years as part of Teach for America in Baltimore City where she claims her passion for teaching and coaching was born.
"I didn't know at that time that I wanted to coach, but I did it and I truly think that was the best segway into coaching that I could have possibly had because now I'm always thinking about it from the perspective of "What are the players learning? How do I do things so it makes sense to everyone? How do I also differentiate so that individuals are getting what they need? And then you have to be so organized or else your classroom will just go crazy. So, I think this was just the best way that I could prepare to be a coach."
In addition to Teach for America, Alukonis attributes much of her success to everything she experienced throughout her collegiate career at Duke including her "driven and passionate" teammates, the encouragement of her coaching staff and academic support.
"Duke was honestly amazing at setting us up for success, and I realize now how big of an impact Duke had on me" says Alukonis. "Robbie is the coolest man on campus, the coolest coach that I could have possibly had. I spent some time after college working with Robbie, Erwin [van Bennekom] and Carla [Overbeck]. It was really cool to learn from them. Robbie is just the most caring, loving and amazing coach you could possibly have. And then Erwin, who I felt kind of brought the Duke mentality to soccer, was so organized, so cutting edge and just an incredible coach. And then Carla who is just the most amazing leader you can ever imagine. She was so amazing to learn from because she did all the little things behind the scenes that you just say, "Wow that's what makes a great selfless leader." So, learning from those three was just huge and that was one of my first experiences in the coaching world."
From an academic perspective, the four-year starter recalls "going to academic support and just saying "These are my dreams can you help me get there? and looking back someone could have probably laughed at them but TJ [Grams] was like "Yea let's do it!" And so, you have the support in terms of just people helping you get there, Robbie as well. I remember Robbie and Billy [Lesesne] called us and they were like "What do you need?" and just making sure that we had everything we possibly needed in terms of letter and academic support, getting out into the community and just opening our eyes to other things was really cool."
At an institution like Duke, it was evident for Alukonis that she was going to be supported at all times: "If you say you want to do something they're going to do everything they can to help you get there, and that's the coaching staff, that's your teammates, and that's academic support, the whole university." A statement that became most evident when she began achieving all the goals she once dreamed of.
At the start of her coaching career she "fell in love with coaching the younger ones" and coached a U16 and U10 girls' team along with various soccer camps.
"Coaching youth is so different than coaching the older girls, and so now in the morning I am working with the world class players and then in the evening I am working with the youth and helping them develop and hopefully turn into great players too. It's more teaching with the younger ones and I love that, and it's just so cool watching them battle and turn into strong young girls and really fall in love with the game. It's really really gratifying."
Alukonis shares "I always thought I would die to be able to coach at Duke or at UCLA, that was always a big dream," and crazy enough, she now begins her third season on the UCLA coaching staff and has helped guide the Bruins to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2018 and to the NCAA College Cup in 2019. She is now set to start her first season as assistant coach with UCLA and has attained her UEFA B coaching license which she is "really happy and proud of."
But Alukonis does not plan to end there. "One day I would love to coach at the international level, potentially with the United States and with the U.S. Youth National teams once everything is up and running again. I want to be the best coach I can be and just continue to love the game. I have always said, I don't care what level I'm coaching at. I love it, I'm having fun. I think the end goal is just to work at the highest level and with top players but always also just connecting and staying involved with youth soccer. Having a presence in both worlds."
#GoDuke
DURHAM, N.C.-- It is often assumed that playing for a Division I institution like Duke often limits what an athlete can do off the field, but there are athletes like Jane Alukonis, class of '09, who are proof that collegiate athletes at Duke are not bound to just their athletic engagements during and after their four years.
A four-year starter under Duke head coach Robbie Church, Alukonis started 76 of her 84 matches tallying five goals and 11 assists for 21 points throughout her career. Her success did not stop there. As senior team captain she was selected to the All-ACC Academic Team and finished her run with the Blue Devils as a four-time ACC Honor Roll selection and with the ACC Top Six for Service Award for her volunteer efforts at Duke.
Upon graduating with a degree in both political science and sociology with a minor in psychology, Alukonis was encouraged by one of her teammates to teach for three years as part of Teach for America in Baltimore City where she claims her passion for teaching and coaching was born.
"I didn't know at that time that I wanted to coach, but I did it and I truly think that was the best segway into coaching that I could have possibly had because now I'm always thinking about it from the perspective of "What are the players learning? How do I do things so it makes sense to everyone? How do I also differentiate so that individuals are getting what they need? And then you have to be so organized or else your classroom will just go crazy. So, I think this was just the best way that I could prepare to be a coach."
In addition to Teach for America, Alukonis attributes much of her success to everything she experienced throughout her collegiate career at Duke including her "driven and passionate" teammates, the encouragement of her coaching staff and academic support.
"Duke was honestly amazing at setting us up for success, and I realize now how big of an impact Duke had on me" says Alukonis. "Robbie is the coolest man on campus, the coolest coach that I could have possibly had. I spent some time after college working with Robbie, Erwin [van Bennekom] and Carla [Overbeck]. It was really cool to learn from them. Robbie is just the most caring, loving and amazing coach you could possibly have. And then Erwin, who I felt kind of brought the Duke mentality to soccer, was so organized, so cutting edge and just an incredible coach. And then Carla who is just the most amazing leader you can ever imagine. She was so amazing to learn from because she did all the little things behind the scenes that you just say, "Wow that's what makes a great selfless leader." So, learning from those three was just huge and that was one of my first experiences in the coaching world."
From an academic perspective, the four-year starter recalls "going to academic support and just saying "These are my dreams can you help me get there? and looking back someone could have probably laughed at them but TJ [Grams] was like "Yea let's do it!" And so, you have the support in terms of just people helping you get there, Robbie as well. I remember Robbie and Billy [Lesesne] called us and they were like "What do you need?" and just making sure that we had everything we possibly needed in terms of letter and academic support, getting out into the community and just opening our eyes to other things was really cool."
At an institution like Duke, it was evident for Alukonis that she was going to be supported at all times: "If you say you want to do something they're going to do everything they can to help you get there, and that's the coaching staff, that's your teammates, and that's academic support, the whole university." A statement that became most evident when she began achieving all the goals she once dreamed of.
At the start of her coaching career she "fell in love with coaching the younger ones" and coached a U16 and U10 girls' team along with various soccer camps.
"Coaching youth is so different than coaching the older girls, and so now in the morning I am working with the world class players and then in the evening I am working with the youth and helping them develop and hopefully turn into great players too. It's more teaching with the younger ones and I love that, and it's just so cool watching them battle and turn into strong young girls and really fall in love with the game. It's really really gratifying."
Alukonis shares "I always thought I would die to be able to coach at Duke or at UCLA, that was always a big dream," and crazy enough, she now begins her third season on the UCLA coaching staff and has helped guide the Bruins to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2018 and to the NCAA College Cup in 2019. She is now set to start her first season as assistant coach with UCLA and has attained her UEFA B coaching license which she is "really happy and proud of."
But Alukonis does not plan to end there. "One day I would love to coach at the international level, potentially with the United States and with the U.S. Youth National teams once everything is up and running again. I want to be the best coach I can be and just continue to love the game. I have always said, I don't care what level I'm coaching at. I love it, I'm having fun. I think the end goal is just to work at the highest level and with top players but always also just connecting and staying involved with youth soccer. Having a presence in both worlds."
#GoDuke
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