Grateful town says thank you to long-time boys soccer coach Bill Phelps

Former Canton High boys soccer coach Bill Phelps is with three former players, from left, Jack Freedenberg, Jack Tenczar and Kyle Maher on Tuesday near the turf field.

Fourteen years ago, I wrote this about Canton High coach Bill Phelps when he stepped away from the Warrior wrestling program after 28 years of service.

It just seems like Canton High wrestling coach Bill Phelps has been around forever. But he hasn’t.

Perhaps, I should rephrase this — for a generation of Canton High students and parents, he has been around forever.

And he is still here. But you won’t find him roaming the sideline of a Canton High boys soccer game anymore inspiring another group of young Warriors, barking at officials for a call or eating a sour green lollipop so he wouldn’t yell so quickly or easily at those officials.

Last spring, Phelps retired as the boys soccer coach after 38 years, two state championships (1995, 2003) and three trips to the Class S finals. A few years earlier, he had retired from the Canton school system where he was a physical education teacher, spending many years at Cherry Brook Elementary School.

“I had hoped to go away quietly,” he said on Tuesday at halftime of Canton’s game with East Granby on the turf field.

The school arranged a brief ceremony to thank Phelps for all of his years of service to Canton as a teacher and coach of the boys soccer program. Players from his first team in 1989 were there along with players from later years.

First Selectman Kevin Witkos, who was an assistant coach for four years with Phelps, spoke briefly along with Board of Education vice-chairman Joe Scheideler, who was a teacher and athletic director in 1989.

“Thank you very much for coming,” Phelps said to the crowd during an extended halftime ceremony. “It means a great deal (to me).”

His wife Linda was there along with their two sons, Brian and Jonathan, and his two parents, who are in their 90s.

“All of these teams I have had in 38 years have been extraordinary in different ways and I have loved each of them for different reasons and not one is better than the other,” he said.

Always the coach, he apologized to the Warriors for denying them a halftime speech from head coach Chris Weller. Canton had a 1-0 lead over East Granby at the half.

“You need three goals. Go get them quickly,” he said with a grin.

With 302 wins, he has more victories than any other coach in program history. A lot of memories over multiple years with a generation of players.

Phelps coached the wrestling team for 28 seasons through 2010, falling two wins shy of 300 career victories. His teams won four North Central Connecticut Conference (NCCC) championships and had twelve top 10 finishes at the Class S championships. The closest they came to a state title was a second place finish in 1995.

He coached 18 Class S state champions, two State Open champions and one New England champion.

One of the game officials presented Bill Phelps with a red card at halftime on Tuesday.

He is still on the payroll of the Canton athletic department.

He has been the boys golf coach for 20 years. He took over the position in 2005 and his Warrior teams have finished second twice in the CIAC Division IV state tournament in 2010 and 2015 – the best finishes in school history. They’ve gone to the state tournament 14 times in 20 seasons, finishing third last spring in Division III.

His teams played at the former Tower Ridge Golf Course in Simsbury for many years but now call Blue Fox Run home.

Between all three sports, his Warrior teams have earned more than 750 victories.

But it wasn’t about games, championships or trophies on this sunny, fall afternoon on the turf field. It was about renewing friendships, learning about families, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers and simply sharing a hug, a smile and a laugh.

Just for the record, Canton and East Granby battled to a 2-2 tie in overtime. The visiting Crusaders tied the game at 1-1 with 16:32 left in regulation.

After Canton (6-6-3) took a 2-1 lead in the first five-minute OT session, East Granby (9-3-3) scored with 16 seconds left in the first OT on a direct kick from the 25-yard line that just sailed under the crossbar to tie the game again.