BANGOR, Maine — Aaron Wilcox has won numerous awards during his 17 seasons as boys varsity soccer coach at Bangor Christian School.
But his recent selection as Region 1 Northeast coach of the year by the National Federation of State High School Associations Coaches Association almost didn’t happen, and it had nothing to do with his work on the sidelines or his team’s success last fall.
Wilcox called the Maine Principals’ Association office in Augusta in October to check on a problem related to his team’s participation in this year’s Class D state championship match when he was congratulated by MPA assistant executive director Mike Burnham.
Wilcox didn’t know the reason for the congratulations but soon learned he had received the NFHS Maine coach of the year award — his notification had been sent to the wrong email address.
When he finally did receive that notification email, it came with an application for subsequent regional and national award consideration.
“As it turned out, I only had a day or two to fill out the application before the deadline to turn it in expired,” Wilcox said.
This marks the first time Wilcox has won the NFHS Region I award, but he also is a former National Soccer Coaches Association of America New England private school coach of the year as well as a six-time honoree for the NSCAA regional award.
Wilcox guided the Bangor Christian to a 16-2 record and its sixth consecutive Eastern Maine Class D championship last fall before the Patriots fell to undefeated Richmond 3-0 in the state final.
That ended Bangor Christian’s five-year reign as state champion, a run tied for the longest such streak in state high school soccer history.
Wilcox fielded one of the youngest teams of his tenure last fall, with just two seniors on the 17-player roster as well as nine freshmen, five of whom were starters.
“They far surpassed what anybody thought we’d do this year,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox has more than 200 coaching wins during two stints at Bangor Christian. He originally guided the program for six years, then was away from the post for seven years before embarking on his current 11-year run with the Patriots.
Bangor Christian has enjoyed unprecedented success under Wilcox in recent seasons. Since the start of the 2009 campaign, the Patriots have compiled a 102-5-1 record highlighted by the five state titles and a 64-match winning streak.
