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Mt. Lebanon soccer coach nominated for PSCA Hall of Fame

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 10 min read
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Ron Wilcher never played soccer. Yet, the South Fayette resident has been nominated to the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

“Out of the blue,” Wilcher said he received a phone call regarding the news while attending a nephew’s wedding in Charlottesville, Va. “It’s quite humbling. The PSCA is a great organization and some wonderful people are in (the hall of fame).”

Wilcher served as the head coach of the Mt. Lebanon High School boys varsity program for 31 seasons. He compiled a 447-184-50 career record with six WPIAL championships, one PIAA runner-up trophy and 17 section titles. His Blue Devils reached the PIAA playoffs semifinal five times.

Additionally, Wilcher has also been associated with Beadling Soccer Club for 25 years and PA West Olympic Development Program for 15. His teams have captured seven PA West state championships. Wilcher currently coaches Beadling’s 2004 boys South Showcase team.

His accomplishments garnered him the Coach of the Year award in the state, district and section as well as the distinction in the PA West organization.

Wilcher has served as president of Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association for 22 years and chairman of the WPIAL Quad-A schools and rep for Section 4-AAAA. He directed Mt. Lebanon Soccer Academy from 1985-2015 and the community’s summer camps, which served more than 200 youth players annually.

Wilcher has been a member of the National Soccer Coaches Athletic Association since 1979.

When Wilcher began coaching soccer 42 years ago, however, he had never participated in the sport. He was a baseball and football player at Upper St. Clair High School.

Wilcher played safety and quarterback on the gridiron and hit .300 on the diamond for the Panthers. He went on to play baseball and major in education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he started four years at second base.

“I was a decent football player, but baseball was my sport,” Wilcher said. “I had a good career at IUP, but baseball took a back seat to moving on with my life.”

Before he married his first wife, Debbie, and had his first child, Lauren, Wilcher cemented his path. in soccer While student teaching at Mt. Lebanon in the fall of 1977, his father, John, offered him a volunteer position on his soccer coaching staff.

“He asked if I wanted to stay and work with the goalies, get some training,” said Wilcher, whose father coached high school basketball, football and junior high wrestling.

“My dad coached my whole life,” he added. “I grew up watching game films in the basement with him. So being at practice and around the excitement as well as learning a new sport that I never participated in was thrilling and the success of the season we experienced was so energizing.”

Wilcher said the Blue Devils’ 1-0 overtime victory over North Allegheny to capture the 1977 WPIAL championship “hooked me” on the sport.

After Wilcher then began teaching at the Wesley Institute, he accepted a paid position in 1978 as the Mt. Lebanon junior varsity soccer coach.

With Wilcher’s brother, Robbie, as a key player, Lebo would go on a run that included WPIAL titles from 1981-84 and a PIAA championship in 1981.

“Not only was I around in a coaching role to see the connections with what to do with your players and fit into a system at the varsity level, I was honored to be part of the success we experience my early years,” he said. “When you coach at Lebo, you get to coach so many great players and meet so many wonderful families. There was such a stretch of awesome players and tremendous success.”

In the fall of 1985, Wilcher took over as head coach when his father stepped down to take the women’s head coaching position at Allegheny College.

Over the next 31 years, Lebo qualified for the WPIAL playoffs 29 straight seasons. The Blue Devils also advanced to the PIAA tournament 13 times.

Wilcher coached 23 all-state performers, seven national all-region players and three national All-Americans. He said Zach Batteer was the best player he ever coached and Vegrin Hightower was the best athlete.

Hightower scored 40 goals to lead Lebo to a WPIAL championship, the state finals and a 25-1 record in soccer his senior season. He finished with 93 career goals. He went on to play baseball at Vanderbilt University and was eventually drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the third round of the 1994 Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Batteer was a three-time all-section, all-conference, all-state and all-regional player for the Blue Devils, and a two-time national All-American. He was a Parade All-American and the 2010 Gatorade State Player of the Year. The 2011 Lebo graduate excelled at Stanford University and was drafted into the MLS.

“Zach was an excellent striker of the ball. He bent balls. Worked hard,” Wilcher said. “While he was a very accurate shooter the attribute that stood out was his ability to play in tight spaces. Zach was a special player.”

Wilcher also recalls many memorable games. His first win, 1-0, against Seton LaSalle ranks as memorable. He said a 1-0 victory against Upper St. Clair in a district final where All-American goalkeeper Grant Naylor made a 25 stops and Donny McKay scored the game-winning goal also rates among the best.

The most special, however, was Wilcher’s fifth WPIAL championship, which came in 2002 when the Blue Devils defeated Upper St. Clair 3-1 at Elizabeth-Forward.

Prior to the win, Wilcher’s daughter won a district championship when USC’s girls soccer team defeated Penn-Trafford, 1-0.

“I still can see the fans in the stands starting to celebrate and cheer as Russ Cole ripped the ball from 25 yards out for what looked like a sure goal when Grant (Naylor) goes airborne and makes a spectacular save,” he said. “When both Lauren and I got gold medals was one of those most special days for me.”

Wilcher said Lebo was a “wonderful” place to coach because of the great support he received from the administration, community, players and parents. Despite retiring in 2015, he joined Bill Perz’s staff as a volunteer coach in 2016.

“I was watching games from the stands and Billy said ‘why not come and coach?’ So I did and I love it,” Wilcher said. “I can go visit my daughter and the grandkids. At my stage in life, you realize there are more important things in life.”

Nevertheless, Wilcher said he is pleased to be inducted into the PSCA Hall of Fame.

“It’s my first Hall of Fame,” he said. “It’s a great honor because soccer has been such a huge part of my life. It all reflects back to the players though. Successful coaches have talented players and they also have great staffs. I have been so fortunate to have the help of so many and to have developed so many great friendships.”

Who is he: Retired Mt. Lebanon varsity boys’ soccer coach nominated for the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame

Career record: 477-184-50 with six WPIAL championships and one PIAA runner-up title.

Age: 64

Birthday: Aug. 5

Siblings: Sandy, Heather, Robbie, Julie

High school: Upper St. Clair

Sports: Baseball, football

College: Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Sports: Baseball

Major: Education

Current job: Coaching soccer with the Beadling Soccer Club

Residence: South Fayette

Children: Lauren

Grandchildren: Grace (8), Colton (5), Mac (3), Kate (2)

Color: Blue. “It should be for all the years I spent at Mt. Lebanon but it’s not reason.”

Food: Pierogies “My grandpa used to make them.”

Restaurant: Carbonara’s or Sesame Inn.

Book: Hillsboro – The Truth “It was awesome book. Powerful. Recounting the disaster that happened in Sheffield. Jim and Mark Perry and Gene Klein were actually in that stadium.”

Movie: Remember the Titans

TV: Yellowstone

Music: Old Motown. Earth, Wind and Fire or Rascal Flatts.

People might be surprised to know this about you. I enjoy Fly fishing.

Dream destination: Fishing in Chile

Life lessons learned from sports: “Coaching wise for me. The goal was always to build young boys into men. But the thing I learned the most is I love what I’m doing. I love the people I’m with and encouraging teams and players to use their strengths because together we are unstoppable.”

Get around to doing: Vacuuming the house. I just bought a new deluxe Shark model at Target. So I’m anxious to try it out.”

As a parent, grandparent, former teacher and athletic coach, Ron Wilcher grasps the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic. 

”I think it’s horrific. It’s disrupted life and families. I’ve seen neighbors struggle with employment,” he continued. “It’s the real deal.”

Wilcher experienced the gravity of the disease early. He had traveled to Europe and returned to the states at the beginning of March. He noted, cases of COVID-19 was starting to surface around the world but was not affecting England.

”When we got back to the states, they wanted to know if we’d been to China or had contact with anyone,” he said.

By mid-March, Wilcher was unable to fly to Texas to visit his daughter, Lauren, and his four grandchildren. He was, however, able to make the short junket to Houston over the Fourth of July holiday. He took note that the middle seat was unoccupied, a third of the plane was empty and no passenger sat next to him. Snacks were provided in a pre-packaged, ziplock baggie. Attendants provided sanitizing wipes and materials.

”The airlines were super pro-active. There was little contact. They are doing all they can. They are crushed though. Totally,” Wilcher emphasized.

Student athletes may feel that same way, says Wilcher, should their seasons be postponed this autumn. Governor Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania state departments of health and education are recommending no sports until Jan. 1, 2021. The PIAA and WPIAL, the governing bodies for athletics in the state and district, have placed a 14-day moratorium on mandatory practices, scrimmages and games.

”I will be curious to see what happens,” said Wilcher. “I hope it happens for the kids. They have worked so hard, whether athletes, band members, cheerleaders or those in clubs, Sports are a huge part of the high school experience. Hope we can make it happen.”

Wilcher noted that school administrations have been working hard to implement state recommended guidelines to allow competition and practices. He also acknowledges that “nobody wants to cancel” the season but he is uncertain how some contact sports can proceed.

”I don’t know how you do football,” said Wilcher, who played quarterback and defensive back during his high school days at Upper St. Clair. “I hope for the kids’ sake they figure out a way.”

So far, soccer clubs like Beadling, for whom Wilcher coaches, have returned to the pitch. Back in March, the national organizations “pulled the plug” on activities. Since Allegheny Country moved into the Green Phase in early June, the Beadling Soccer Club has resumed practices and games at Chartiers Park in Bridgeville. Masks are required, temperature checks are taken and physical distancing is enforced.

”Things are slowly winding open,” Wilcher said. 

He also noted that club soccer and AAU teams have a “better chance of moving forward” because bus transportation is not required. Parents bring athletes to games.

”There is not as much contact,” Wilcher said. “So they have a chance.”

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