Grafton High soccer field Dons a new name

Nearly everyone associated with Grafton High School soccer since the 1990s knows Don Arnold.

Now everyone who plays a game on the school’s soccer field will know the longtime beloved coach as well. A ceremony naming the field after Arnold was held Aug. 25 before the Black Hawks’ boys’ season opener.

Arnold racked up a number of victories between coaching the girls’ and boys’ teams for a combined 56 seasons, including regional and sectional titles, and a girls’ state championship in 1997.

“That’s not why we’re naming the field after him,” former assistant coach Jim Johnson said.

“The biggest thing is this guy, Don Arnold, has a positive impact on everybody he interacts with.

“The number of his players who went on to coach, the number of his players who have gone on to make a positive impact on other people in their lives because Don taught them how to do things. Don taught them it’s not just about soccer, it’s about life. It’s about how you carry yourself. It’s about heart, passion, desire.”

Mike Bergmann played for Arnold and was on the 1998 team that won the North Shore Conference and advanced to the state semifinals.

“Knowing that we had a ton of talent, Don always held us to the highest standard but also allowed us to enjoy our time together and taught us to play the game the right way.  He introduced the phrase ‘Heart, passion, desire” to the program and set that expectation for every team he ever coached,” he said.

Bergmann later coached with Arnold for 12 years.

“While I was able to learn so much about coaching soccer (techniques, drills, schemes, etc.), the best thing I was able to learn was how to get the most from the talent I was given,” he said.

“Some of the best lessons I learned from Don that I certainly tried to apply as well are to play the game the right way, control what you can control and focus on making everyone I coach not only a better player, but a better person.”

Current boys’ head coach Jake Wilde, a 2013 Grafton High grad, fondly remembers Arnold from his youth.

“For a kid growing up in Grafton, when you were 10 years old, Don was there,” he said. “He gave us a lot of opportunities to get as much soccer as we wanted. Without him, I don’t know that all these Grafton guys and girls would be able to fall in love with the sport. He made it fun for us.”

Arnold deflected credit in addressing the large crowd of coaches, players, family and friends at the cerermony.

“It was us. It was a team, it was all the coaches, it was the school district, the community. I had support from so many people. Seeing everybody here tonight is so cool,” he said.

Arnold thanked former athletic director David Walker for hiring him and for Johnson’s work as an assistant coach.

“He’s my main man. He’s the one that kept everything together,” Arnold said. “He has a great mind for the game and has a lot of passion for it.”

But the bond went well beyond soccer.

“My girls were at his wedding. Now he’s been to my daughter’s wedding. It shows you how important that is, that friendship,” Arnold said.

Grafton’s opponent on Aug. 25 was defending Division 3 champion Catholic Memorial. The Crusaders’ coach is John Bisswurm, who was Arnold’s coach when he played for the Bavarian Soccer Club.

“He taught me about heart, passion, desire,” Arnold said, “and the importance of being a team.’

Arnold carried that to his squads.

“My biggest memory is end of the year when our teams would take that final step off the field, all together as a team, no matter if we won or lost, we did it together,” he said.

One of Arnold’s former players, Cathy Heinz, a member of the 1997 state championship squad, helped lead some of the fundraising for phase 3 of Grafton High School’s athletic renovations, which includes a new concession stand and bathrooms at the soccer field.

“It is so cool to see a nice pavilion over there with indoor bathrooms. Not the port-a-potties you try to go in the dark. We have a great field here, a great facility. We love it,” Arnold said.

“Thank you to my players for what they’ve done for my and my family.”

It was family, Arnold said, that allowed him to coach for as long as he did.

“Any coach, you know it’s not an hour and a half, two hours that you’re out there. It’s a lot of time. When my kids were growing up, ‘Where’s dad?’ He’s at the soccer field. My wife Tina, she’s the one that did it all to keep that going and give me the ability to come out and coach,” he said.

Arnold continues to coach youth.

“That’s because Tina likes me out of the house now more than anything,” he said.

Arnold is grateful to have the field named after him.

“I’m so honored to have my name part of this,” he said.