Linda L. Wilbur
Hall of Fame Inductee 2001

Linda Wilbur's soccer career began in 1981 when her three children starting playing soccer in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. In following her beliefs of being totally involved in what her children did and do, She volunteered to help out as a team parent. A short time later, she found herself involved with the club board standing up for the player rights of participating on the state level. So as they say, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil", well this time the oil was in the form of a position as secretary of the Wasilla Youth Soccer Association. Within a year, she continued squeaking and landed a position on the Alaska State Youth Soccer Association board (ASYSA) as secretary. This definitely resolved her concerns of lacking information for her local club.

As her children's love and development for soccer grew, so did Linda's. Since ASYSA was a youngster in the game of soccer, Linda was able to assist in developing some programs that were new to the state. Along with Alaska's State Coach, Danny Reynolds, and the assistance of many others, they formed the Olympic Development Program, of which Linda became the State Administrator. In a short time, they had players participating in the Regional camps. To Linda's excitement, she was asked to be the Region IV ODP-Girls Assistant Administrator under Coni Odyke and Roslyn Houser, with Berhoni Aberhoni as the Head Coach. A few years later, Darl Rose asked her to be the Region IV ODP-Girls Administrator, along with Jan Smesik as Head Coach. What an exciting opportunity. Linda loved building relationships and working with all the staff, coaches, players, and administrators from all the Region IV state associations.

In the mean time, she became Vice President for ASYSA, a position that she held for about 13 years. With this position, Linda also participated in many Region IV and National events and workshops. She was appointed the Chairperson of ASYSA Protest and Appeals (P & A) committee. ASYSA did not have much structure in the program, so Linda went to work with her committee and with the help of Ralph Sarff, the Region IV Protest & Appeals Chairperson, formulated policies and procedures for ASYSA. She also became involved in the Region IV Protest and Appeals committee for several years.

In 1996 Linda was elected President of ASYSA and continued her love for pursuing the best for youth players in Alaska. With the strong leadership of the Alaska State Board, over the years they saw significant changes and growth in their association. In 1999 Linda retired from soccer and moved on in other arenas that she could not pursue because of her commitment to soccer.

Linda has been in the field of education for 21 years, including adjunct faculty at the local college. She has been a strong advocate for educational programs that would benefit the youth of her community. Again, in following her philosophies, Linda was very active in the Basketball and Soccer Booster Clubs at the high school her teenagers attended. This involvement helped her achieve yet another goal of convincing the School Board that soccer needed to be added as a Varsity sport in their schools.

Since her retirement from soccer, Linda has entered into a field she has always loved. She currently serves as an officer and medic with the local Fire, Rescue, and Ambulance Department. She become very involved with the local Union as an Executive Board member, a member of the Health Insurance Committee, and a member of the Contract Negotiation Team.

Linda's love for soccer will never die, she still enjoys the sport, only now from the sidelines. She has the great pleasure of watching her daughter coach the girl's varsity team at a local high school, one of the top teams in their District and State. But most of all, she now has the pleasure of seeing her second generation of soccer players, her grandson and granddaughter both play and love the game as much as she does. Linda looks forward to the time when her four younger grandchildren begin to play.

We are pleased to honor Linda Wilbur as a member of the US Youth Soccer - Region IV Hall of Fame for 2001.