The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is honored to announce Alex Carroll, Vestavia Hills High School soccer coach, as the recipient of the 2026 Layton Shoemaker Award. The award is named after famed Messiah University soccer coach Layton Shoemaker and recognizes a soccer coach who honors God on and off the field and models a strong relationship with Christ to their players.
“Coach Carroll is not only a role model for the young people she coaches, but a role model for all Christian coaches and athletes,” said FCA President and CEO Shane Williamson. “She has committed each aspect of her life to being a faithful servant to the goodness of God and has guided so many athletes to His greater glory.”
During her years as a coach, Carroll has led her team to win the 2025 AHSAA State Champion, 2019 AHSAA State Champion and National Champion after completing a perfect season at 23-0 and setting a state record 29 consecutive wins. She also helped lead the Vestavia Hills High School girls’ basketball team to multiple final-four and State Championship appearances. Both the girls’ basketball and soccer teams had numerous players receive All Metro, All State, and national honors under her leadership over the last eight years of her career.
Coach Carroll carries herself in a way that other coaches, players and even players’ parents deeply respect. She pushes them to be their best on the field, in the classroom and as individuals. She coaches with integrity and truly embodies Christ in so many ways. She is a coach who doesn’t just tell her players to hold a high standard for themselves, but she is going to do everything in her power to help them get there.
Dani Proctor, Birmingham, Alabama FCA Area Representative shared, “She isn’t just a phenomenal coach that pulls out the best in all the players she coaches, but she values relationships and her players as people above all else. She views every hat she wears as a role to steward for the Kingdom of God and she doesn’t just share her faith but she lives it too. One of my favorite things about Coach Carroll is that she shows up for our girls. Every single one of our girls in our FCA ministry — especially her soccer players — see the Light and Love of Jesus in her shining so bright. If all of our female athletes in FCA at Vestavia Hills grew up to be leaders and Jesus followers like her, the world would be a brighter and kinder place.”
Kendall Roberts, Senior volleyball, soccer player and FCA Leader at Vestavia Hills High School, remarked, “Each and every day going to practice is more than just getting touches on the ball, it’s a time I get to spend with a family of girls I’ve grown so close with, and a coach we can all be vulnerable around and trust. She is a true leader and one of the best mentors I will ever have, and I am beyond grateful I got the privilege to be one of her student athletes.”
Carroll has been the Vestavia Hills High School Girls FCA Sponsor for six years, and she also helps lead the Student Leadership Team. She also not only helped start the school-wide FCA Girls Bible study six years ago (which averages 35-50 girls every meeting) but continues to help lead it.
“Alex has been a part of Fellowship of Christian Athletes at VHHS since her own days as a student and has continued to faithfully serve through FCA as a coach and mentor. She lives by the faith she professes, modeling integrity, consistency and care for athletes both on and off the field. Her heart for athletes and for our community is evident in the way she encourages young people to pursue excellence in the details of their craft while also growing in their relationship with God,” said Laura Casey, Director of Athletics, Vestavia Hills City Schools.
“I am truly humbled and honored to receive this award. Any recognition that brings glory to God is a blessing, and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in a way that reflects His purpose. It means even more to receive an award that represents Layton Shoemaker — a person whose character, faith and impact set a powerful example. To be associated with his legacy is deeply meaningful, and I do not take that lightly. I am thankful, inspired and committed to continuing to serve with the same integrity and heart that this award represents,” shared Carroll.
“Layton Shoemaker’s coaching philosophy is discussed in the book ‘The Messiah Method,’ which focuses on the culture Layton Shoemaker created at Messiah College. It emphasizes servant leadership and mentorship, things that go well beyond the field and things I try to prioritize beyond the wins and losses. That book was one of the first I received when I started coaching, and it is one I return to every year. Because of that, this award feels especially meaningful — a true full-circle moment.”