Wilson steps down as LSE soccer coach

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BY BRENT C. WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star

Linda Wilson remembers the day she hung up the phone and got to thinking.

It was some 30 years ago when the YMCA called. It seems her son’s soccer team was in need of a coach, and the YMCA asked if Wilson could find one of the dads to coach the team.

“How come I can’t do it,” Wilson thought.

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Linda Wilson, the boys soccer coach at Lincoln Southeast for the past 16 seasons, is stepping down. (LJS file photo)

Linda Wilson, the boys soccer coach at Lincoln Southeast for the past 16 seasons, is stepping down. (LJS file photo)

Wilson answered the phone again on Wednesday. Yes, she told a reporter, all these years later she had decided to retire from coaching soccer.

She was the head coach of the Lincoln Southeast boys team the past 16 seasons. When the Knights won the state championship in 2001, Wilson became one of few women to coach a boys team to a state title.

Wilson told her team at a banquet Tuesday she was done, but she knew all along this would be her last season. She’ll continue as a teacher at Bryan Community School.

“After having done something so long, and to be involved with so many young players in a real positive way, it’s something really special,” Wilson said.

Like most people in Lincoln 30 years ago, Wilson knew little about soccer. But she read books and went to clinics. She ended up liking it so much she helped start a new program at the Capital Soccer Association, and ended up seeing a lot of the country because of this game.

Wilson was the junior varsity boys coach for a few years at Southeast, and then took over the varsity. She won 70 percent of her games, and reached the state tournament nine times.

While Wilson says the relationships were the best part of the job, she recalls winning that state title.

“It was a blast,” Wilson said. “Man, we had a great time.”

Reach Brent C. Wagner at 474-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.