State championship coach Bobby Weimer to again lead Westerville South girls soccer team
Bobby Weimer, who led the Westerville South girls soccer team to the Division I state title in 1995 in his first season as coach, is set to take over the program a second time.
Pending school board approval, Weimer will replace Jeremy Watson, who guided the Wildcats for two seasons.
Weimer, 52, coached South for 14 seasons and later led the Westerville Central girls team for seven years. With the Wildcats, who also won the state title the season before he took over, he went 133-90-38 with OCC titles in 1996 and 2003.
He graduated from South in 1989 and played on the boys soccer team. His wife, Kristen, is a 1992 graduate who competed in soccer and softball.
“I’m going back to my roots where I started, where I got my first opportunity,” said Weimer, who is a math teacher at South. “Westerville South is special to me because I graduated from South. I played there. My wife played there. My sister (Carol) played there. I coached there for 14 years. I still teach there. It’s good to come back and be able to give back to a place that gave so much to me.”
Weimer took over at Central in 2015, guiding the Warhawks to a 43-61-21 record.
South opens the 2023 season at home against Central on Aug. 11.
“For me, it’s all about the program and the kids at South,” Weimer said. “I’m not even going to mention that to the players. I’ve moved on and those (Central) players have moved on. My focus needs to be solely on the program I’m working with and the kids that I’m coaching.”
Weimer was an assistant girls soccer coach at Watterson this fall.
“You would be hard pressed to find a coach with deeper roots to Westerville South than coach Weimer,” athletics director Jeff Good said. “As an alumnus, current teacher in the building and former state championship coach, we are excited to have coach Weimer back on the Westerville South sidelines.”
The Wildcats went 11-36-3 overall and 3-18 in the OCC under Watson.
“My main focus is not going to be on wins and losses,” Weimer said. “It’s going to be establishing some pride in the program for the players and developing those skills and behaviors that the players need to have a chance to be successful when the opportunity presents itself.”
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Bobby Weimer to again lead Westerville South girls soccer team