Free State soccer assistant coach Lauren Wilkinson, left, visits with father Mark at a recent practice. Mark hasn't missed a Firebirds girls soccer game in the program's 10-year history, so it's a safe bet he'll be on hand today when FSHS plays host to Lawrence High.

In the 10 years since Free State High opened its doors, the girls soccer program has gone from playing on the band field to its current soccer facility, has had two coaches and dozens of players.

There has been one constant: Mark Wilkinson.

A father of three daughters – two of whom played soccer for the Firebirds – Wilkinson has been to every single girls soccer game, both home and away.

“I just think it’s such a tremendous situation where we’re talking close to 170 games in 10-year period. Heck, I’ve missed games since I’ve been the coach because we’ve had kids and things like that. Things just happen,” said Jason Pendleton, the Firebirds’ coach for eight years. “I’m just amazed with his dedication. It’s one thing when your daughters are playing, but after his daughters graduated, he continued to support us, and now obviously Lauren is on our staff.”

For Lauren, Mark’s second daughter, the subject is an emotional one. It took her several minutes to compose herself before she was even asked a question about her father.

“At first it wasn’t even really something that stood out to me because my dad’s been to every game I’ve ever played probably,” said Lauren, choking back tears. “He’s supported me my first four years from a freshman to a senior and then my younger sister (Claire), for her four years from freshman to senior, and then the last two years I’ve been a coach here, so he has supported all those games as well – a pretty unbelievable dad.”

What has made it possible for Mark to see every game is that he owns Allied Glass.

“The guys I work with, our policy has always been, if you have something going on, especially a kids event, that we’ll make it work,” Mark said. “So they make it work for me.”

Road warrior, too

Mark Wilkinson’s devotion to see all games – home and away – sent him on a three-hour trip to McPherson last year.

He watches the games, and he also occasionally suffers through the weather like the players.

“Lauren was playing a game at Topeka West, and it was raining, it was sleeting, and it was coming down in sheets, but there was no lightning,” said Mark, a member of the Kansas University track and field team in college. “And I was the only parent sitting in the stands. After it was over, everybody was asking, ‘Why? Why? What are you doing out there?’ and I said, ‘Well, if they’re going to have to be out there, I’m going to be out there, too.’ That’s just how I always operate on that stuff.”

Mark didn’t stop at high school games,

He went to many of Lauren’s games when she played at the University of Missouri-Rolla, where she earned multiple All-MIAA awards for athletics and academics and is tied for 10th all-time at UM-Rolla for games played.

He even traveled to surprise his daughter at a game that he didn’t find out was canceled until he arrived.

“It was like three hours away, and I was going to go down and surprise her,” Mark said. “It was a beautiful day. I had checked the weather, and everything was fine. But apparently the field wasn’t doing too well, so they decided to put it off for three or four days. : They said, ‘It’s canceled, and you’ll have to come back Friday.’ As much as I would have liked to, it was a little bit too far for my budget for that week’s time.”

Lauren said she learned a valuable lesson that day.

“I found out that whether I thought he was coming or not, I should let him know because he was going to be there if he could be,” Lauren said.

Coach first

The passion for soccer shared between father and daughter started when Mark coached Lauren in rec league soccer. He said one of the main reasons for doing so was to be able to set up soccer practices around her basketball practices.

“I did that for a lot of kids. I would have practice three times a week, and I’d tell them to try to come to two,” Mark said. “I wanted kids to do as much as they could. There’s a lot of coaches that are like, ‘You can only play my one sport and that’s it.’ : But we can look at each other on the field, and we know exactly what we’re thinking. I’ve got this little whistle that I do, and if I whistled she would look and she knows why I’m whistling without even having to hear it from me.”

Mark Wilkinson said he tried to get to his girls’ games early because he “was afraid they would be worried about me and what I was doing or if I was there yet and they wouldn’t be paying attention.”

But there were a couple of games where he missed the start.

“I was getting my stuff together, probably running a little bit behind, and I locked the keys in my truck with the truck running,” Mark said. “The other set was down in my office, and I had my wife’s key to get into the building, but I didn’t have a key to my office. I took the window out of my office and climbed through the window to get to the keys. I got here and the game was still 0-0, but it was 20 minutes into the first half.”

Free State athletic director Steve Grant, who coached Lauren when she was younger and has had Lauren and her two sisters, Claire and Lisa, in classes, has seen how the Wilkinsons support each other.

“I’ve known them probably close to 20 years, and it’s just a great family. A really good family,” Grant said. “They’re such a great family and so supportive of what their kids are doing, whether it’s athletics or fine arts or academics. They’re just really good people. It’s overstated some times, I guess, but they’re just really good, solid, family-oriented, and you wish every parent that you get the opportunity to work with were like the Wilkinsons.”

When Lauren returned to teach English at Free State, Grant was more than willing to give Pendleton his wish of having her join the coaching staff.

“I’d have to say it wasn’t that she expressed an interest in coaching as much as coach Pendleton said, ‘I want her to help us out,'” Grant said. “He had an opening on his staff, and he said this is the person that I want because he knew what she was capable of and we all knew how good of a job she would do. It wasn’t that she had to beat out a lot of candidates because she was the one we wanted to help us out.”

Mark continues to support the Firebirds’ program. He also serves as a cameraman for the coaches

Grant admitted even he hadn’t even been to every girls game.

“I’ve probably seen most of them, but not all of them,” Grant said. “So maybe Mark ought to have my job. He’d probably be supporting the team a lot more than I would. : We ought to put him on payroll or at least give him a parking space in the parking lot. I’m thinking we should at least give him a letter jacket or something.”

With Free State going for its first postseason victory today as it plays host to cross-town rival Lawrence High, the expectations for both the program and Mark Wilkinson will continue to grow.

“The best thing about this article is now it puts pressure on him where he can’t miss,” Pendleton said. “That’s like the one kid in elementary school who got the award for perfect attendance but was absent.”