Scholastically, Ali competed for McDonogh High School where she was 2-time Maryland State player of the year and 2-time All-American. McDonogh played in the state Championship all four years.

In college, Ali went to University of Maryland where she was the leading scorer and on the Al-ACC team. Ali transfered to Loyola University in Maryland where she broke all of the scoring and points records in 2 years (previously held by 4-year players). Ali was the MACC All-Conference Offensive player of the year both years and was honored with the Ernest Lagna award, the highest honor a female athlete can be awarded at Loyola University.

After college, Ali played for the Washington Freedom where she was the leading scorer in the country in her rookie season. During her time with the Freedom, Ali helped the team to a National Championship. After playing with the Freedom, Ali played with the Colorado Force for a season until retiring to semi-pro for 2 seasons with ACF Torino and 3 seasons with the Chesapeake Charge.

During her professional career, Ali pursued a Masters in Theology at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore. Ali then completed her Doctorate in Psychology through California Southern University's remote program. Ali provides information on sport psychology as well as sport-psychology services for teams and organizations as The Soccer Doctor. For more information: www.soccer-doctor.com.

In 2006, Ali started Champions Soccer Training, with the goal of providing a positive and top-level soccer experience for Baltimore-area players. Ali is also the Director of Training for Lutherville Timonium Soccer Club as well as Westminster Soccer Association.

In 2009, Ali started More Than Futbol, an outreach program in Nicarauga to use soccer as a tool to connect our Baltimore community with the impoverished community in Nicaragua. In 2011, this expanded to Belize and, to date, More Than Futbol has taken over 100 volunteers to Nicaragua and/or Belize and the program has transformed from a week-long soccer program to an in-school mentoring and after-school soccer program. In addition to being the Director of More Than Futbol, Ali also sits on the board for Soccer Without Borders Baltimore chapter.
In 2016, Ali was inducted into the Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame and in 2019, Ali was inducted into the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame.
Coach Ali currently lives in Timonium, MD with her husband, Zach Mitchell and daughter, Montana. Zach works as the go-to physical therapist for our local soccer players and their families. Ali hopes that Montana (age 8 months) will grow up to love soccer as much as the rest of the family. ​​​​​​​