Boys soccer: Brieger's 1,000th game at St. Edward a smashing success
St. Edward boys soccer coach Tim Brieger was a popular guy after the Green Wave's 7-0 home win over Walther Christian on Wednesday and for good reason.
For the past 24 years Brieger has been a popular coach for both the boys and girls soccer teams at St. Edward. Several of his former players were in attendance on Wednesday to celebrate Brieger's 1,000th game of coaching and stayed around to visit with him afterward.
"This is what makes it all so special," Brieger said. "To have players come back and share their lives and stories with you. I've had players go on to be doctors and lawyers. One guy is working with the Cubs. I have another working for a coffee company in London. I have some here today from the first team I coached. It's just always great to hear from players and to see them go on to be successful in life. The games come and go. The trophies and plaques are all nice, but it's the relationships you build in coaching that matter the most."
There were plenty of memories to reminisce about with his former players.
"It's funny some of the things that stand out the most over the years and that we still talk about are not the things you might expect," Brieger said. "It's not the big games for a conference title or the state tournament games. But instead it's the funny things that happened in games or the crazy games played in the mud or a kid scoring their first goal. Those are the moments that stick out."
Brieger is still a popular coach today. Will Gaston, who had 3 goals in Wednesday's win, talked about what it is like to play for Brieger.
"He just has a great attitude toward his players," Gaston said. "He pushes us hard to be the best on the field, but at the same time off the field he is cool to talk to and is a great role model. He's like family. It's just great to be a part of this celebration with him."
As a senior in high school in 1990-1991 Brieger played on the first soccer team ever at St. Edward. Then 4 years later after college in 1995 he took the girls coaching position despite not getting paid because the school had no money in the budget for the soccer programs at the time. A year later he started coaching the boys team. The rest is history.
Brieger has accumulated over 400 wins, a couple trips to the state finals, and several regional, sectional, tournament, and conference titles along the way. While some things have changed along the way there are others that have stood the test of time.
"The biggest thing that has changed is I used to be the stupid young coach that had a lot of great mentors help me along the way," Brieger said. "Now I'm the old man that has younger coaches coming to me for advice. It's crazy. But there are a couple things that haven't changed. It's always great to see the kids love for the game. That has never changed. And the other thing is feeling part of a family here at St. Edward. I am so thankful for getting the coaching opportunity way back when and for them sticking with me all these years. No matter how many years have passed I always feel like part of a family here."
Brieger may have one of his best teams yet as the Green Wave improved to 9-0 Wednesday. AJ Franklin added 2 goals for St. Edward. Chase Brieger, Tim's oldest son, also had a goal along with Joshua Johansen.