Alex Sommerfield and his new wife Bobbi Sommerfield, previously Westendorf, are the newest version of “Love and Basketball.”
“It is a top-five movie of ours. We are like the coaching version of it,” Alex said.
Alex is the head men’s basketball coach at Whatcom Community College while Bobbi is the head women’s coach at WCC. Bobbi previously coached for the Western Washington University women’s basketball team as an assistant coach.
It will be the first time the couple will be coaching at the same school. In addition, Bobbi’s father, Lance Westendorf, has been Alex’s assistant coach the last couple of years while Bobbi’s mother, Stacy Westendorf, will step up as her assistant coach. Lance played at Southwestern Oklahoma State and coaches a Seattle Rotary youth basketball team.
Alex grew up in Federal Way and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High in 2016. Bobbi grew up in Kent and graduated from Kentridge in 2015. The two of them would see each other at high school games and tournaments until they took different college routes. Alex, 6-foot-7, was a forward while Bobbi, 5-foot-11, played guard.
Alex competed at Green River College while Bobbi joined Western Washington University. After a few years of not seeing each other, Alex traveled to Whatcom Community College to play a basketball game and they ran across each other again.
“We matched on an online dating site but nothing came out of it,” Bobbi said. “In 2021, I had my daughter and moved back home with my family so they could help me. My brother and some friends went to the Auburn Fieldhouse to play and we saw each other from afar.”
Even though Alex and Bobbi did not talk to each other during the tournament, it sparked their future. They followed each other on Instagram and started dating in the summer of 2022.
Bobbi became a graduate assistant coach for Western while Alex’s career was wrapping up at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho. Alex struggled to find an internship or job he enjoyed, so he moved in with Bobbi to see how he could fare in Bellingham. Alex reached out to Rob Pedicone, WCC’s athletic director, for a job opportunity at the school.
“I knew him because he was the assistant director at Green River when I was there,” Alex said. “In July, I asked if he had anything in athletics, met with the men’s basketball head coach and he hired me as an assistant.”
In August 2022, former WCC head coach Jerome Jenkins surprised Alex and the WCC athletics department.
“(Jerome) called me to say he was going to change my life and I didn’t know what he meant,” Alex said. “He took another job (at Fresno State). It was the middle of August, I was 24, and had no plans on coaching and all of a sudden I became the head coach.”
Pedicone officially opened the vacancy to internal and external applicants and Sommerfield was named the interim coach for the 2021–22 season. Alex’s first season was tough because there were not many recruits left when Jenkins left. The Orcas finished 5-22 in his first season.
“It was quite the ride but I am super proud of him getting through it,” Pedicone said. “He grew as a person and I’m proud of how he handled everything.”
Pedicone removed the interim title and gave Alex the head coaching job once the season ended.
“Sometimes young people are held back from opportunities because of years of experience,” Pedicone said. “If someone has flashes of talent, it is worth having them around you. I knew he was a great character and respectable too.”
At the same time, Bobbi was promoted to assistant coach at Western. She helped the Vikings reach the NCAA Division II championship game in the 2021–22 season, win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in 2022–23 and compile a 73-17 record.
“Her becoming a coach was a natural thing because she could understand the game more than a lot of other people when she was a player,” Western head coach Carmen Dolfo said. “She has grown in her confidence and the ability to communicate with people.”
Bobbi also served as a Belonging Community Member, working to develop policies and procedures to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and events on campus for staff and student-athletes.
Only a few years out of college, she was still balancing coaching, her daughter and spending time with friends on the team.
“It was a challenge because I didn’t know what I was throwing myself into and Western is a great program,” Bobbi said. “The last two years as full-time were great but I was ready to spread my wings. WCC is great and I was there all the time anyway because of Alex.”
Pedicone met Bobbi in 2022 as Alex’s fiancee. Dolfo described Bobbi as a hard worker who did whatever it took to make her team better. Bobbi was named the Orcas’ new women’s head basketball coach on the Whatcom Community College athletics website May 24.
“I had to recruit 10 girls the past year but I’m excited to work with them and Alex,” Bobbi said.
The two of them say they are different when they are coaching their squads. Alex grew up reserved and soft-spoken, even when he played in college. He has learned to become more vocal in his open gyms and leads pickup basketball and drills.
“I was always yelled at for being too quiet,” Alex said. “I have talked more in this job than I have in my entire life. It keeps me interested in basketball and I like it more than I thought.”
Bobbi describes herself on and off the court as “needing to get it done, vocal and opinionated.” She loves to provide support during her open gyms and practices with hands-on demonstrations.
Their relationship can boost both teams
Since both programs have struggled in recent years, they believe their strong relationship can help them boost each other’s programs.
“We won’t have arguments about gym time,” Bobbi said. “Being at the Division II level, I can tell him what coaches are looking for and connect him with those coaches. Also, we can bring more energy to the community. At Western, I was able to bring connections and Whatcom doesn’t get the appreciation we deserve.”
Pedicone added Alex and Bobbi have great connections in the basketball community and can turn the programs into playoff-caliber teams this upcoming season.
Dolfo added it will be great to have a connection with Whatcom Community College and hopefully draw some players to Western in the future.
He also believes the coaches are great at supporting the student-athletes by building a family environment and a safe place with support if they need help.
Alex, 26, and Bobbi, 27, were married July 27 at Hidden Farm in Buckley, Pierce County. Alex had proposed May 13, 2023, while playing basketball with Bobbi and some friends in Seattle.
“Me and her dad planned a normal open gym down at a middle school where they would play almost every Saturday with her brother and friends,” Alex said. “We rounded them all up, I hid in a closet and her brother relayed a signal once Bobbi got to the spot in the gym. I walked out and the question was asked.”
Although their lives revolve around basketball, Alex and Bobbi find time to step away from the court.
“We are good for talking about basketball for an hour then moving on from it,” Bobbi said. “It helps to have my daughter take our minds off of it.” Bobbi’s daughter, Aria, is 3 years old.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN’s sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
