The most intimidating thing for Ally Gleason in taking over as head coach of the Old Lyme High School boys’ soccer team isn’t that she will be a woman coaching a boys’ team. It’s the storied history of Old Lyme’s boys’ and girls’ soccer teams in general.

“It’s stepping into big shoes,” Gleason said Sunday. “It’s still Old Lyme soccer. When you go back to the ’70s, there’s All-Americans, state champions, (Rob) Roach (Hall of Fame former girls’ coach), Jim (Gardner) Sr. (after whom the soccer field at Old Lyme is named), Jim Jr. played professional soccer.

“These names that you were going in after, that’s the exciting part.”

Gleason served for seven seasons as an assistant coach of the Old Lyme High School girls’ team under her father, Paul Gleason. Together, they have helped lead the Wildcats to the last four Class S state championships.

Now, Ally, who will turn 35 later this month, is branching out on her own after being hired as boys’ coach by Old Lyme athletic director Hilda Heck. Gleason said she played soccer with a boys’ club team through her sophomore year of high school.

Gleason is a 2002 Old Lyme graduate and a midfielder under former Wildcats’ coach Don Desautels. She went on to play for New England College in Henniker, N.H. She and her husband, Doug Cameron, have a soon-to-be 2-year-old daughter, Millie.

"It’s just something that the opportunity presented itself. I was like, ‘You know what, why not?” Gleason said. “Men coach women all the time. Why can’t a woman coach a man’s team? … People talk about, ‘There is a woman NFL referee. There’s a woman NBA assistant coach.’ What’s the big deal? If you love sports, you love sports; your gender shouldn’t matter.”

Gleason said her dad, understandably, wasn’t thrilled at first that she was leaving his staff.

“He wasn’t the happiest at first. Now he’s excited,” she said. “The whole idea of us not being together, it’s a little bit emotional, I guess. We’ve had a lot of special times together.”

"She knows the district, she knows the kids. When she left (her interview) everybody on the committee knew she had what it took," said Heck, who said the committee included three members of the boys' soccer team. "I think the quote that kind of sealed it for her was that she wanted to give the boys the same opportunity the girls have had."

Heck said that Gleason is always on campus at Old Lyme, attending basketball, softball and lacrosse games and that she's well known and respected for that. Gleason has been present at a few of her new team's summer league games and planning ahead to when practice starts on Aug. 29.

"I have full confidence in her ability," Heck said. "If there's any female that can do it, Ally can."

Gleason brings a laid-back style to coaching — "I need to literally sit there and think. I'm not somebody who yells on the sidelines," she said. Strategically, she says she carries a possession-oriented approach.

The Old Lyme boys have won five state championships dating back to 1966.

"Being chosen is humbling. I don't know if it's quite hit me yet," Gleason said. "For me, I think it's a big deal. This is a phenomenal opportunity. I'm going to be living up to filling some big shoes."

v.fulkerson@theday.com