Bowling Green High School Coach Craig Widener met with members of the Purples Soccer team on Wednesday, December 9, to share his intent to resign as Head Coach, effective December 10, 2015. He will continue his role as a teacher at BGHS, however plans to use time from coaching to spend more time with his family.
In a letter released December 9, Widener wrote, “If there is one thing I have tried to impress upon the young men on the Bowling Green High School soccer team over the last 11 years, it is the idea that life is full of finite resources. The older I get, the more I realize there are so many things we can never, ever get back. At the top of that list are time and energy.”
Widener says the decision to step down from coaching was not easy, however, he shares, “I made myself a promise a long time ago that I would try and be the best father and husband I could possibly be. The older my children get (13 and 9), the more conflicts arise. The more active they are, the more I have to choose between my players and my children. That is a decision I can no longer make. With a heavy heart, I am stepping down as head coach of the Bowling Green High School soccer team.”
Widener has spent the last eleven years as Head Coach of the Purples Soccer Team. He has the highest winning percentage of any soccer coach in a Kentucky high school, 206-32-20. Under his leadership, BGHS has won two soccer state championships, made six state semifinal appearances, won seven regional and nine district titles.
In his letter Widener says, “I have been fortunate to live a dream. Our community, school, and student athletes have helped accomplish almost all of the goals within the field of play a high school coach can set for themselves more than once.”
Widener will continue his role as a teacher at Bowling Green High School. Sharing his love for teaching, he says that he views teaching as the cake and coaching as the icing. He has also pledged support for the future of the Purples Soccer program, and will continue to help any and all Purples team members past, present, and future.
The head soccer coaching position at Bowling Green High School will be posted online on December 10, 2015. For more information about the position, visit the employment link on the district website, www.bgreen.kyschools.us.
