Players, admirers remember Borton as a teacher first, then a coach. 2
ENGLEWOOD — There’ll be a person missing on the sidelines in Englewood from now on.
The local soccer community is still reeling from the sudden loss of their beloved coach, Barry Borton.
Borton died unexpectedly of a heart attack Jan. 27 after arriving home from a meeting at Englewood Indoor Soccer.
He was 63.
But his wife, Sandra, and their children, Heather, Robin and Brian, are helping to fulfill his legacy with the local soccer community.
Borton coached the reserve girls soccer team at Northmont High School and Northern United Soccer Alliance U-11 Fire club soccer team. His death comes during the high school offseason conditioning and in the middle of club offseason indoor play.
His players and admirers remember Borton as a teacher first, then a coach, who cared more about improving and learning than winning and losing.
The girls from the Fire team said they are especially missing him.
The plan was to keep the girls together on the same team through high school, where they could play on the reserve team, said the girls and their coaches, Julie Walker and Andrew Hernandez.
It’s a plan the girls still intend to follow. The team has been together two years and Miya Foster, 11, said they will “keep trying our hardest, basically do what he taught us to do.”
Borton’s last act was a meeting to plan Friday’s fish fry fundraiser, March 5, at American Legion on National Road in Englewood.
The fish fry and Monte Carlo night, Borton’s idea, will help raise funds for the club team for tournaments, equipment and league fees, said Hernandez.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door for the event, which is 6 to 11 p.m.
Contact this reporter at levingston.2@wright.edu.
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