Best 2016 Coach: Wayne Wilkerson
--Photo by SARAH JENKINS Coach Wayne Wilkerson wearing one of his many hats.
BONNERS FERRY -- Best of Boundary County Coach for 2016 is Wayne Wilkerson. Wilkerson is the head coach for the Bonners Ferry High School boys’ soccer team.
The soccer program began at BFHS in the early to mid 1990’s by John and Shirley Lindberg, according to Wilkerson. Although the team was originally a club team, the Lindberg’s vision, dedication, and financial support the program was eventually supported by the district. Wilkerson had the opportunity to join Lindberg in the late 1990s as assistant coach and soon thereafter, Wilkerson took over as head coach when Lindberg became the girls’ soccer team head coach.
Since Coach Wilkerson has taken possession of the BFHS boys soccer team, two words can describe them -- tenacious and perseverance. they have been known to never give up and always have teamwork. With a successful history and program achievements over the years, the older players set the example for the upcoming younger players of the BFHS boys soccer traditions. The expectations are already set for the next season, according to Coach Wilkerson.
“We play many schools that are bigger than BFHS but the boys always seem to step up and play hard against these bigger schools,” said Coach Wilkerson.
One of Coach Wilkerson’s fondest coaching memories was when the BFHS took the State 3A soccer championship game in 2007. It wasn’t until the bus ride home that Coach Wilkerson fully grasped what had occurred.
Another fond memory for Coach Wilkerson was during the second game, against Sandpoint. Their history with Sandpoint was to try not to get trounced too badly, according to Coach Wilkerson. During this game, Sandpoint had outshot BFHS 30 to 3, with Coach Wilkerson losing count to how many times their shot hit our goal posts. The final score, however, was 2-1 in favor of Badgers. The outcome is still unbelievable to Coach Wilkerson and he believes that it has never occurred.
The first game of the 2016 boys varsity season will be on Aug. 20 at St. Maries. The Badgers’ first home game is Sept. 2 against Stillwater Christian at 2 p.m.