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New Tampa prep baseball & softball previews

*Brian Baughman is the top returning player in New Tampa, after batting .398 and going 6-3 on the mound in 2018.* ***(Photo: Jarrett Guthrie)***

WHARTON BASEBALL

Coach: Scott Hoffman

Last season: 17-9 (5-2 in Class 8A-4)

Key returners: Brian Baughman (Sr., LHP, OF), Zach Ehrhard (So., 2B), Mike Hudson (Sr., 1B), Dylan McDonald (So., INF), Grady Maguire (Jr., SS).

Promising newcomers: Ryan Fry (Fr, RHP) and Michael Rivera (So., LHP).

Breakout Star: Dubbed by Hoffman as the team’s “Ben Zobrist” for his incredible versatility on defense, junior shortstop and infielder Grady Maguire opened last season on a tear with hits in 10 of the first 11 games. He finished his sophomore season hitting .357, with 20 runs scored and 12 RBI.

Outlook: District runners-up last season and riding a streak of four straight regional playoff appearances, Wharton will again bring a highly-talented team to the table this season.

The Wildcats will be led by senior pitcher and outfielder Brian Baughman, who burst onto the scene last year by hitting .398, more than 100 points better than his 2017 batting average, scored 26 runs and went 6-3 on the mound with a 1.94 ERA and 60 strikeouts.

Sophomore Zach Ehrhard had an impressive varsity debut last year, hitting .371 and scoring 20 runs, while Mike Hudson (see story on previous page) had 15 RBI and Dylan McDonald drove in 14 runs, including one in each of the team’s last four games.

Freshman pitcher Ryan Fry hasn’t even thrown a high school pitch yet, but he already has made an early oral commitment to the University of Miami this winter and may make an immediate impact on the mound for the‘Cats. Lefthanded sophomore Michael Rivera transferred in from Alonso High, where he did not see any varsity action.

Hoffman says: “Our seniors like Brian (Baughman) and Mikey Hudson are guys we lean on a lot and they show how about we go about our business around here… the younger guys see and follow them.”

*Tieley Vaughn, pictured here with USF coach Ken Eriksen, has already orally committed to play for the Bulls in college. (Photo: Twitter)*

WHARTON SOFTBALL

Coach: Brittany Bonea

Last season: 15-7, Class 8A, District 4 runner-up

Key returners: Jordyn Gendron (Sr., 3B); Jillian Long (Jr., P/OF); Hana Schwindler (Sr., P/2B); Tieley Vaughn (So., SS).

Promising newcomers: Riley Collins (Fr., P/2B/OF)

Breakout Star: A University of South Florida oral commitment as a freshman, Tieley Vaughn is a powerhouse hitter according to Bonea, who also boasts a cannon of an arm from shortstop. Last season, Vaughn was the leading hitter for the Wildcats amongst the regulars, hitting .352, with six doubles, 12 RBI and 15 runs scored.

Outlook: The Wildcats, 2-0 so far with a pair of shutout wins, cruised through district play last season, going 6-0 in the regular season, before winning its district tournament semifinal game against Wiregrass Ranch.

In two regular season games against Freedom, the Wildcats outlasted the Patriots.

However, in the district championship Wharton hitters were held to just four hits in a mercy-rule loss to Freedom, and then knocked out of the state playoffs 14-0 by East Ridge.

Despite the end-of-season stumble last year, Bonea, a former Saint Leo University player, has steered the Wildcats to three straight District championship games, and four straight winning seasons since taking over the program in 2015.

Wharton loses four of its top five hitters due to graduation, but will regroup offensively behind solid crop of returners.

Senior Jordyn Gendron (.306, 19 RBI and 10 runs scored in 2018), Hana Schwindler (.292, 12 runs scored) and Vaughn will key the offense.

Junior Jillian Long returns to the mound for her junior campaign after posting a 13-4 record last season, with a 3.33 ERA and 44 strikeouts. She leads the team with three RBI in two games this season.

Bonea says: “Our goal this year is to make sure that the players take their mental game as serious as their physical game.”

*Tripp Merrell, Freedom’s fourth baseball coach in as many years, hopes to finally turn Patriots baseball into a winning program. (Photo: Freedom Revolution).*

FREEDOM BASEBALL

Coach: Tripp Merrell

Last season: 6-16 (1-5 in Class 8A-4)

Key returners: Mitchell Leroy (Sr., RHP), Jeremy Carrick (Sr., SS), Kevin Kirby (Jr., 1B/RHP), Brylan West (Jr., 3B/RHP).

Promising newcomers: Sebastian Burgess, Sr., Util/P; Jack Richardson Sr., OF

Breakout Star: The Patriots success this season will be highly dependent on pitching ace Mitchell Leroy, and according to Merrell the senior righty is just fine with that pressure. Mitchell is a workhorse on mound, who Merrell says is a “big-game pitcher,” who loves the limelight and wants to have the ball in his hands for the biggest game.

However, the Hillborough Community College oral commitment posted a 2.88 ERA, with 59 strikeouts in 56 innings. He is 6-foot-3, and boasts a fastball that gets up to 90 mph.

Jeremy Carrick, a four-year starter committed to NCAA Division III’s Norwich University in Vermont, will play a pivotal role on defense and will look to be a leader at the plate after scoring a team-best 16 runs last season, while juniors Kevin Kirby and Brylan West (the top returning hitter with a .267 average) will contribute at the plate and on the mound this season.

Returning for their final prep seasons after two years away from the program are seniors Sebastian Burgess and Jack Richardson, who Merrell hopes can be impact players this season for the Patriots.

Merrell says: “We have a tough schedule and I’m happy about the teams we played in the fall. And in most of those games, we hung in there and I feel like those things prepared us for this tough district. Come (district tournament) time you only have to win one game to advance, but I know every team in our district.”

*Kylie Coffin already has two homers and nine RBI in two games. (Photo: Dan Sidwell, Freedom Revolution)*

FREEDOM SOFTBALL

Coach: Autumn Hernandez

Last season: 19-6 (Class 8A-District 4 Champions, region semifinalist)

Key returners: Ellis Erickson (Jr., C); Lilly Kiester (So., OF); Abigail Vandeberg (Sr., SS).

Promising newcomer: Kylie Coffin (Jr., P; see photo)

Breakout Star: A speedy runner with a great ability to read the ball off the bat, sophomore Lilly Kiester is already one of the best outfielders in the county according to Hernandez. As a freshman, Kiester scored 26 times last season and hit .333.

Outlook: Freedom is already 2-0 and have outscored opponents 34-6 in its first two wins, a year after claiming its first softball district title last season. The Patriots hope to build on that with a junior-heavy lineup, but one that returns a lot of starting experience. For Hernandez, leaders like Ellis Erickson (.442, 19 RBI, 21 runs, and six doubles in 2018) and senior Abigail Vandeberg (.361, 20 runs, 17 RBI) will be crucial to the success for the Patriots, who are still adjusting to some defensive realignment heading into the start of the season.

Erickson, who already has a homer and four RBI and has already orally committed to play in college for Northern Illinois, is the “heartbeat of the team” according to Hernandez and is the field general from behind the plate.

The Patriots biggest boost on defense, however, might come from its most crucial new edition – Carrollwood Day School junior transfer Kylie Coffin. Last season while pitching CDS to the Class 3A regional final, she posted a 17-9 record with a 1.90 ERA and 156 strikeouts. Relying on a nasty screwball and a solid curve, she will immediately take over the heavy lifting on the mound for Freedom, and she is no slouch at the plate after hitting .487 with three home runs and 32 RBI for CDS.

In two games, Coffin is making a serious impact, going 5-for-7 at the plate with two homers and nine RBI, and has struck out 13 batters in seven innings pitched.

Senior Abigail Vandeberg makes the move from first base to shortstop this season, filling a key role defensively for the Patriots, and returns solid numbers at the plate after hitting .361 with 17 RBI last season.

Hernandez says: “We are a small team this season with just 11 players, so we are moving a lot of players around the field this season. To fill some holes, I’ve had to move some people to new spots, so there may be a bit of a learning situation taking place early on. But I think we are getting better every day, and once we get into district play I expect us to be ready.”

Outlook: Merrell is the fourth new baseball coach in as many years at Freedom, and he is tasked with turning around a program that has had only one winning season, back in 2012. A Sickles High grad and former college player at Webber International University in Babson Park, FL, Merrell will likely lean on Leroy, who was 2-4 last season.However, the Hillborough Community College oral commitment posted a 2.88 ERA, with 59 strikeouts in 56 innings. He is 6-foot-3, and boasts a fastball that gets up to 90 mph.Jeremy Carrick, a four-year starter committed to NCAA Division III’s Norwich University in Vermont, will play a pivotal role on defense and will look to be a leader at the plate after scoring a team-best 16 runs last season, while juniors Kevin Kirby and Brylan West (the top returning hitter with a .267 average) will contribute at the plate and on the mound this season.

softball

New Charging Station Will Add To New Tampa’s EV Drivers’ Choices

The parking lot between the Panera Bread and Dunkin’ Donuts off Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in the Walk at Highwoods Preserve is undergoing a transformation that should charge some people up.

If they have the right kind of car, that is.

What is currently a fenced-in site with little hint of what’s to come will soon be an electric car charging station, part of an Electrify America network that is aggressively expanding across the country.

The New Tampa location is one of 484 sites that will be finished by the end of June.

The location, in one of New Tampa’s busier breakfast and lunchtime locations, is exactly what Electrify America is looking for, according to company spokesman Mike Moran. While Moran says the proximity to I-75 is ideal, so are the variety of things to do for those waiting for their car to fully charge.

Although the technology continues to improve, to charge an electric car can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours or even overnight, so stations are often located in high-amenity areas and at many hotels.

“It’s a combination of many things, really,” Moran says. “But part of the criteria is we are looking for places that are accessible and also provide an opportunity to other amenities, like shopping, food and beverages and other facilities.”

Most automakers are working on, or are already producing, electric cars, or EVs (for electric vehicles). Sales of EVs in 2018 were up 81 percent over the previous, with 361,307 sales nationwide, according to InsideEVs.com.

Many of the sales are being driven by the price of fueling up with gas, as well as awareness and concern over the effect that fuel emissions have on the environment.

Ironically, it was an emissions scandal that led to the creation of Electrify America.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of German automaker Volkswagen, Electrify America was created in the aftermath of an emissions scandal in 2015 in which Volkswagen was discovered to have programmed roughly 11 million cars, including 500,000 in the U.S., to activate their emissions controls only during testing. Outside the testing facilities, however, it was discovered its cars were emitting 40 times more nitrogen oxide than allowed by the Clean Air Act.

As part of its settlement with the U.S., Volkswagen agreed to invest $2 billion over 10 years in U.S. EV infrastructure, which includes new stations as well as educational initiatives, and launched Electrify America in 2018.

More stations could prompt more sales. One major issue with owning an electric car remains the range of your vehicle, and where to power up in a pinch. While a high majority of EV owners have a charging station at home, one of the by-products of owning an EV, especially for those with long commutes or looking to make a long trip, is finding a station when you need one, aka “range-anxiety.”

But that is slowly changing.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, there were 61,067 electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S. in 2018. That number has increased every year since 2008, with the fastest growth coming the past three years, with annual growth of roughly 10,000 stations since 2015.

There are about 3,000 public charging stations in Florida, compared to more than 20,000 in California, which has the most.

The Electrify America station isn’t the first EV charging station in New Tampa. In fact, there are PlugShare charging stations at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on Galbraith Rd. right behind The Walk at Highwoods Preserve, as well as two PlugShare charging stations at the USF Federal Credit Union on BBD.

There also is a ChargePoint Charging Station located on Amberly Drive in the parking lot of the JAEB Center For Health Research, and Plug-In America has stations at Wesley Chapel Nissan, Honda and Chevrolet, as well as a handful of stations in and around the Tampa Premium Outlets.

Tesla, which uses proprietary charging stations, has plans to build a station near the Super Target on County Line Rd. sometime this year, according to its website.

The Beach House At Wiregrass — The Residence For Assisted Living & Memory Care!

From shuffleboard to swimming, movies, dining and more, residents at the Beach House at Wiregrass Ranch Assisted Living & Memory Care on S.R. 56 can enjoy the ‘attrition of life’ in style.

The bright and spacious halls of Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care at Wiregrass Ranch are coming to life, with an influx of new residents calling it home since the community opened in April 2018.

Located just two miles east of the Shops at Wiregrass on S.R. 56, the 93,000-sq.-ft. facility offers 100 residential units, ranging from studio-type apartments of 450 sq. ft. to two-bedroom/two-bath units of up to 796 sq. ft. Homes at Beach House can accommodate single residents or couples, living in either the assisted living or memory care areas.

In the eight months since it opened, 59 residents have moved in so far.

Callie Sears, the director of community relations for the Beach House at Wiregrass, says the number of residents who have already chosen to call Beach House home is well above what they had anticipated at this time, and that those residents are already shaping the programs and features that make it such a special place to live.

At the Beach House’s grand opening in 2018, community relations director Callie Sears (left center) and executive director Linda Mena (right center) were joined by regional marketing and sales director Kim Hayes (far left) and regional operations manager Kim Nadwodny.

“We tailor and cater activities and social aspects of the community to the residents who live here,” says Sears. “The innovative, out-of-the-box thinking, and catering to residents’ wants and needs is how we’re able to really make it their community.”

She says this includes bringing the surrounding Wesley Chapel community into Beach House, with volunteers from Wiregrass Ranch High, for example, and other events designed to draw people in.

This month’s “Battle of the Bowls” is a chili cook-off today from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. There will be live raffles, chili, hot dogs, beer and desserts. Sears says everyone is welcome to enter their own chili in the cook-off.

“Our philosophy is to bring the outside community into these walls,” Sears explains. “We want to embrace Wesley Chapel and New Tampa and bring them in to understand what we’re about. Our residents are vibrant and have things to look forward to every day.”

Another way the Beach House brings in local residents and business leaders every month is by hosting Women of Wesley Chapel (WOW) meetings. The group of as many as 100 North Tampa Bay Chamber members and their guests meet at the Beach House on the first Friday of each month at 7:30 a.m.

WOW chair Mollyana Ward says, “They say great minds think a like and both (NTBC CEO) Hope Allen, myself and Linda Mena were all on the same page when it came to hosting WOW at the Beach House. When Linda gave Hope and I a tour, we were in awe. Not only is the facility beautiful and classy, but so accommodating. The staff prepares a light breakfast for the ladies of WOW on the first Friday of every month. We love having a place to call home!”

Meanwhile, Sears says the Beach House community also includes the family members — and even furry friends — of its residents. Pets up to 30 pounds are welcome, and visiting family members often bring pets to the facility’s dog park.

“We have a good rate of family involvement,” Sears says. “We want them to be here and give them 24/7 access to come and go.”

She says mealtimes are often when families gather.

“We see a family member sitting with three or four residents, or a couple of families sitting together,” Sears says. “Some families are drawn to those residents who don’t see their families as often. They almost have adopted grandparents.”

Residents eat restaurant-style for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with chef-created recipes to accommodate any dietary needs. In fact, a monthly Chef’s Showcase gives residents the opportunity to sample new recipes or submit their own favorite recipes for the chef to try out. Then, the residents get to vote on which items they want added to the menu at the Beach House.

With its location close to shopping and dining, families often embark on multi-generational outings. Residents also choose where to have a weekly “lunch bunch” in one of the area’s many local restaurants.

There’s also plenty to do without leaving the Beach House. There are indoor and outdoor gathering spaces for wellness activities, games such as shuffleboard or pool, movies, arts & crafts, and a salon.

Happy hours, which used to be once a week, are now three times a week, and include weekly live entertainment.

“Our happy hours are so popular,” Sears laughs, “we need to order more furniture.”

She also says that the memory care residents have group kitchens where staff members lead activities such as baking cookies, which many residents have enjoyed doing all their lives.

“It’s a shared activity, where one person measures and one person mixes,” explains Sears. “We can always smell it when they’re baking cookies.”

Like Home, Only Better

Sears says people are attracted to the name Beach House, which is intended to evoke fond memories of years gone by, such as summers on the beach.

“People come in because they like the name, and then they see that Beach House has a calming sense to it,” says Sears. “Some places almost feel sterile, but they did a great job here of creating a sense of warmth and an inviting atmosphere. People feel drawn to it.”

As the first full-service assisted living and memory care facility located in Wesley Chapel, the Beach House offers many different accommodations and services to its residents.

For assisted living residents, the Beach House staff provides help with a variety of daily activities, such as shopping and medication management. The separate memory care area is available for those who need it, such as for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

The Wesley Chapel location joins two existing Beach House facilities in Jacksonville and Naples, FL. They are all owned by Prevarian Senior Living, LP, which is based in Dallas, TX, and also has similar communities in Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona.

Day-to-day operations at the Beach House are managed by employees of Life Care Services, a Los Angeles, CA-based company serving the needs of more than 33,000 senior citizens at facilities throughout the U.S.

To deliver services to residents of a wide range of abilities, the Beach House is licensed as an Extended Congregate Care (ECC) facility. That means a spectrum of care is offered, from limited assistance to total help with many basic needs.

“We have nurses around the clock,” says Sears. “That sets us apart from most places.”

Overseeing all aspects of the Beach House at Wiregrass Ranch’s daily operations is executive director Linda Mena, who has more than 25 years of experience working in senior housing. She explains that the range of care helps Beach House residents of all abilities, and as their abilities change over time.

“They truly can age in place in our community and that’s important to residents,” Mena says. “With the attrition of life, their needs become much greater and they don’t want to have to move or make a transition at that frail part of their lives.”

Residents at the Beach House pay privately, as insurance plans and Medicaid are not accepted. However, if families have long-term care insurance, a staff member will assist with providing billing information to the insurance company for reimbursement.

To learn more about upcoming events at the Beach House at Wiregrass Ranch, including the “Strut Your Mutt” doggie fashion show, go to Facebook.com/BeachHouseatWiregrassRanch. To enter your chili or RSVP for the Battle of the Bowls, or, for more information about the Beach House (30070 S.R. 56), visit BeachHouseWiregrass.com, or call (813) 508-6677.

beach house senior living

Has Viera Done Enough For Tampa’s District 7? His Challenger Says ‘No’

Quinton F. Robinson says he is not pitting New Tampa against the rest of the City of Tampa’s District 7 in his attempt to unseat current city councilman Luis Viera.

What he says he is saying is this: while Viera has accomplished a lot for New Tampa in his two years on Tampa’s City Council, Dist. 7 needs someone who can do the same for the entire district, and he’s that guy.

“Equity in governance,” Robinson simply says, and it is a prevalent theme on his Facebook page, which uses hashtags like VOTEEquity, BeEmpowered and, naturally, VoteRobinson (on Tampa’s municipal election day — Tuesday, March 5).

Viera is running for his first full term. He has served since 2017, after defeating Jim Davison in a special election to fill the seat of Lisa Montelione, who resigned for a failed attempt to run for the Florida House of Representatives. Viera, with an endorsement from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, defeated Davison in the run-off by 65 votes.

Robinson, 42, says Viera doesn’t have a plan to fix the problems plaguing much of District 7, and is aggressively fighting to win against what many feel are insurmountable odds. Viera, a Hunter’s Green resident, is popular in New Tampa and elsewhere, and extremely active in the area.

He helped spearhead a renewed effort by local political activists and community members in a fight to get the city to approve funding for an addition to the New Tampa Recreation Center and another fire station, as well as designs for a sensory park that would be the first of its kind in Tampa.

Viera has championed more than a dozen local causes, from getting potholes filled to advocating for safer roads, and organized a handful of town halls so residents could engage with city and county leaders.

Robinson — who was born and raised in West Tampa, graduated from Hillsborough High and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and is the former president of the Hillsborough County Black Caucus — doesn’t dispute any of that. In fact, he says it bolsters his pitch to voters.

“My opponent has made strides for New Tampa, and that’s great for New Tampa,” Robinson says, “but the quality of life could be enhanced throughout North Tampa. Look at his accomplishments. Not one thing has benefited all of North Tampa. My goal is to enhance, educate, empower and elevate all of District 7.”

While Robinson, who has lived with his wife and two children in the University area since 2012, does support line item funding to build a Tampa Police substation in New Tampa, many of his goals are centered around what he feels are the forgotten areas of District 7.

He would like the North Tampa area in and around Sulphur Springs, Busch Blvd. and Fowler Ave. to be designated a Community Redevelopment Area, to reinvigorate the area economically. He favors beautification projects along Nebraska Ave. and Busch Blvd., needed street repairs and the repaving of 30th St. He wants flooding issues in the area addressed.

Robinson also wants a “modernization” of Copeland Park & Community Center, including a kitchen, computer lab, rebuilding of the boardwalk and lighting for the existing trail.

“I just don’t believe the North Tampa community should have to wait another 20 years,” Robinson says. “Unfortunately, that has been the case. Often when people run in this district, they only focus on the area north of Fowler or west of I-275. We need a councilman that is able to build that bridge to all of District 7, not just those in New Tampa.”

Viera bristles at the accusation he has ignored the rest of District 7 because he is preoccupied with delivering for New Tampa.

“There is an old saying – you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts,” Viera says. “I have been active in all parts of the district.”

In fact, he may be the most active member of the current City Council.

One of his first tasks was to create the North Tampa Veterans Association, and he has remained involved in a number of veterans activities and created the Warrior Games Promotion Committee to promote attendance at the 2019 Warrior Games coming to Tampa in June.

In Forest Hills, Viera says he helped organize residents to fight to preserve the Babe Zaharias Golf Course from potential redevelopment threats, and also supported funding for the maintenance of the golf course in the City of Tampa budget. He pushed for more street lighting and updated striping and signs in the area. Like he did with creating the New Tampa Council, to better organize the area neighborhoods, he did the same with the Forest Hills Council. And, he says he worked on facilitating more than $1 million for the Forest Hills Community Center, as well as flood mitigation improvements.

Not to mention, he adds, the six town halls he hosted in the area.

Along Busch Blvd. and Fowler Ave., he says he promoted a number of safety improvements in what he calls a “corridor of neglect,” helped organize a Hurricane Prepardedness Task Force to help with post-hurricane relief efforts in North Tampa communities, secured funding in the City of Tampa budget for additional lights at Copeland Park, is working on a formal crosswalk for Chamberlain High students on North Blvd., north of Busch Blvd. and has championed other safety projects and improvements on area roads.

“I have to remind people sometimes that I’ve only been in office for two years,” Viera says.

HE JUST WINS

Tennis players Kanishkh Ramesh and Destiny Okungbowa (left) and soccer players Jake Bierhorst and Malcom Lewis (right) flank their coach, Dave Wilson (center).

Tampa Bay is littered with high school coaches who have built sports dynasties, at places like Plant and Armwood for football, Tampa Jesuit for baseball and St. Petersburg Lakewood for basketball.

Rare, however, is the coach who not only builds one dynasty, but simultaneously builds two.

In fact, the only boys soccer and tennis coach Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) has ever known, Dave Wilson, may be in a class by himself, especially in Pasco County.

Wilson, who also is the school’s athletic director, has guided the boys soccer team to the state playoffs this season and the Bulls haven’t dropped a regular season game to a Pasco County opponent since January of 2013, a streak of 50 games. That run includes five trips to the Regional playoffs, including a State semifinal appearance in 2015.

Last month, Wilson’s Bulls beat Steinbrenner 2-0 for the 200th win of his career.

Meanwhile, the tennis team, which opened its season Feb. 12 against Cypress Creek, has been even better. The Bulls are currently on a 125-match regular-season winning streak, including 96 straight wins against Pasco County competition since a loss to Land O’Lakes in 2010. That run includes State championships in 2014 and 2015, as well as a runner-up finish in 2017.

Kanishkh Ramesh (and his brother) have been a part of the Bulls long winning streak.

When it comes to playing its local competition, the taste of defeat is an unfamiliar one for Wilson.

“I think about it, but I don’t think our guys think about it all that much,” Wilson says with a chuckle, adding, “except for the fact that I don’t think they want to be the team that has that first loss to a Pasco opponent.”

An Athletic Background

Wilson is a Falls State, NY, native, who grew up as a multi-sport athlete and attended the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Cortland (aka Cortland State) in Cortland, NY, where he was a regional All-American soccer player, played basketball and competed for the track team in the triple jump.

Competition has always been a part of Coach Wilson’s life. But coaching? He says that is, and always has been, where his true passion has burned.

“I never wanted to do anything other than coaching,” Wilson says. “My brothers both took great jobs and make lots of money, but that was never a draw for me.”

He adds, with a chuckle: “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be rich and everything. But, I enjoy every day of my life, coming to practice and going to the games. When you’ve been an athlete all your life, and you still get to wake up in the morning and say, ‘Alright, it’s game day,’ there is nothing better than that.”

Wilson, 54, got his first coaching experience as a senior in college, when he joined the Tompkins Cortland Community College (in Tompkins, NY) basketball staff as an assistant, he moved from there to SUNY Binghamton (in Binghamton, NY) where he was the head women’s basketball and soccer coach for 10 years, before moving to Florida to serve as the head women’s basketball coach at Saint Leo University outside of Dade City beginning in 1999.

However, after a few years at Saint Leo, with a wife and young children, the travel for games, long hours and recruiting trips started to wear on Wilson.

He knew he wanted to make a change, so he stepped down from coaching at Saint Leo in 2002 and spent four years as an elementary school physical education teacher. The itch to coach competitively, though, never went away, and when WRH opened in 2006, he jumped at the chance to get back into coaching.

For someone who sees coaching as a calling, there can be no bigger challenge than launching a program, building a tradition and finding success. Wilson got that chance when he took the job as both the boys soccer and boys tennis coach at the new school.

And success? That has not been a problem for Wilson and his team at WRH. He says that winning never gets old.

In the Bulls’ dramatic 3-2 District 5A-7 semifinal win Jan. 30 against second-seeded Plant, Wilson got caught up in the celebration after Justin Amis scored the winning goal with roughly 30 seconds remaining.

“I think I hurt my ribs,” he said, laughing. “I’m getting old.”

The next night, the Bulls gave Wilson his first district title since 2015 with a 1-0 overtime win over No. 1-seed Steinbrenner. The Bulls eventually bowed out of the state playoffs this season in the second round.

Off The Field Success, Too

Success for Wilson isn’t just what happens on the field — it comes in the legacy of a program, its growth, its traditions. The biggest point of pride, according to Wilson, is seeing those early players return to give back to their former programs, while his current players buy into the athletic culture they are helping to shape.

“The continuity of our program and the consistency started with the first group, that group being around for four years, set the bar,” Wilson says. “They started coming back after they graduated for summer stuff and supported the guys they left behind.”

“That’s so important having those players come back and let the younger guys know what this time here meant to them. Letting them know that the memories they had of high school (athletics) was the most fun they had and that’s trickled down. Every group after them has tried to raise the bar another level.”

(l.-r.) Devi Ndrita, Jori Ndrita, Malcom Lewis, Maurice Lewis, Camilo Torres and JP Torres pose with the District Championship trophy the Bulls won on Jan. 31. It was the school’s first district title since 2015, a team Devi, Maurice and JP all played on. ***(Photo courtesy of The Wiregrass Ranch Stampede school newspaper.)***

Chris Madden, a member of Wilson’s first soccer team at WRH in 2006 and the current Competition & Development Director for the United Soccer League, remembers the first year of soccer at the school, playing without a senior class, and the struggles that squad had to overcome. Even then, Madden noted, the players knew Wilson was preparing them for successes ahead.

“We had a rough go that first year, but Coach Wilson, in all the years I played for him, always instilled a desire to be our best,” Madden says. “I think that is rare these days. I think he really understood the desires of young players and how to make them want to play and become better players.”

Four years later, the Bulls soccer team won 18 games, finished as the District runner-up and made the program’s first state series appearance.

For Madden, it was Wilson’s dedication to the kind of people his players would become, that shines over their successes on the field or courts. That, he says, is what has brought him back to his alma mater for the last 10 years to help out as an assistant coach for the Bulls.

“Getting to coach with him for about the last 10 years has been really important to me, because if I were to give credit to someone for helping me in my career in soccer today, I’d credit Coach Wilson, for sure,” Madden says. “You can tell he cares about you off the field, and when you are looking for someone to be that mentor, that’s very important. He made us want to play for him.”

Wilson’s third “coaching” job at Wiregrass Ranch comes as the school’s athletic director, and he approaches that position the same way he does his role as leader to his student-athletes.

“My belief, and what I preach to all of our other coaches here at Wiregrass Ranch, is that the experience has to outweigh the outcome,” Wilson says. “You can win a state title, but if you are being screamed at and made miserable the whole time, then it’s really not worth doing. We really focus on things so when these kids look back on their high school athletics in 10 years, this really was the best time of their lives.”