From hype pre-game music and positive reinforcement to endless support and optimism during games, Coach Bret Washington has impacted Westridge athletics beyond just championships. 

Coach Brett grew up in Inglewood, near the former Hollywood Park Racetrack, and began playing tennis, baseball and golf at an early age. He went on to play flag football, basketball, golf, and ran track throughout middle and high school at Harvard Westlake and his senior year at Rolling Hills Prep School. 

In high school, Coach Brett and his brother were known as “private school kids that grew up in the hood.” He said, “I got to see a lot of the rougher things, and then some of the less rough things as well. And I think it gave me a real perspective of Los Angeles.” 

Coach Brett graduated from the Ohio State University Department of Geography in 2008 with the goal of becoming a city planner. The Great Recession made job hunting difficult, but he was able to work briefly in venture capital before switching gears to marketing for fitness brands. Coach Brett’s lifetime of sports experience made him the perfect fit for sports modeling jobs and gave him many opportunities, such as working with Kobe Bryant at Nike.

While working in marketing, Coach Brett began to explore his true passion: music. He began DJing on the side while continuing his marketing work. Coach Brett has DJed at the Electric Daisy Carnival, Splashhouse, For Those Who Need House, and more. He explained how there was a symbiotic relationship between marketing and DJing where experiences from one would feed into the other and vice versa.

By continuing to DJ on the side, Coach Brett developed the skills necessary to be your own boss: discipline, motivation and diligence. He said, “There were lots of waves and seasons throughout my 20s and some parts of my early 30s where work was slow. You have to find ways to hustle and figure it out.” 

In 2022, Coach Brett received a spontaneous call from his friend, Ryan Miranda, the co-head coach of the varsity golf team at Westridge, asking if he would be interested in a coaching job, and the rest is history. 

Since Coach Brett started coaching at Westridge in 2022, he has fallen in love with the school, students, and overall atmosphere. While continuing to DJ on the side, he currently coaches four varsity teams: basketball, flag football, golf, and track. 

Regarding athletics at Westridge, Coach Brett believes in a balance between academics and athletics rather than a focus on one or the other. He said, “You learn a lot by being an athlete, and it’s definitely something that I think we could focus more on here.” He explained that lessons like teamwork, responsibility, and being a leader, “go way beyond winning or losing. Those are lessons that have stuck with [him] up until now.” 

While Coach Brett, like any other coach, wants to bring his teams to championships, his endless positivity and support are what makes his coaching invaluable. Varsity basketball player Sarah X. ’27, said, “He’s always there for us no matter how we perform.” 

Coach Brett’s commitment to supporting others extends far beyond the court. He spends the first 4-6 hours of the day with his four year old daughter, and he feels that coaching at Westridge is an extension of that. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of female energy in my life, from being a girl dad and then now being here. I feel in some way like you are all my daughters that I’m coaching,” he said.