John Lambert is entering his 27th year as the head coach for La Center football, but he credits his wife Kerry for her role on the team, and together they understand that they are working to help build the leaders of tomorrow through a game that they both love
Paul Valencia
Clark County Today
The Lambert family in La Center is hoping to take an overnight trip this weekend to the Great Wolf Lodge … one final weekend of summer as they know it.
It might still be August, but come Wednesday, Aug. 20, fall will arrive in La Center. And around several schools throughout the state.
Wednesday is the first day of football practice, and John and Kerry Lambert are entering their 27th season leading the La Center Wildcats.
OK, OK, it’s John Lambert who is the head coach. But Kerry takes video from the sideline and she makes it a point to get to know the players and their families. As John puts it, they are a team.
This is the final free weekend for high school football coaches and their families for quite some time. There will be practices over the following two Fridays and Saturdays, and then games kick off for Friday Night Lights the first week of September.
Even after games begin, there is more work on the weekends. There are game video breakdowns, and maybe a coaches meeting or two, just to prepare to do it all over again the next week.
The goal for a high school football coach: To not have another free weekend until the Friday of Dec. 12 — a week after the state championship games at Husky Stadium.
“Think about that. It’s the middle of summer,” John Lambert said. “The next (free weekend after this one), it’s going to be getting dark at 5 p.m.”
The Lamberts wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m thinking about the excitement for my family. I’m also thinking about the excitement of every mom of every player for La Center,” Kerry Lambert said. “Especially for the young players, their first-year moms of La Center football. They don’t know what’s coming, what it’s going to be like, the fun that awaits them.”
Football is family. Family is football.
“For our life, this is the weekend that it really starts,” Kerry Lambert said. “This really starts a marathon. As a coach’s wife, it runs until the (post-season) banquet. It’s a long stretch. But it’s the happiest time for my husband and happiest time for our family in many, many ways. It’s not just my family but extended family, too. People ask about La Center football. ‘How’s La Center doing this year?’”
This is John’s 31st season in coaching, 27th as the head coach.
He is the longest serving head coach in Clark County — by far. David Hajek is going into his 12th season with the Washougal Panthers during this tenure. (He also has coached the team eight total seasons over previous stints.) Scott Rice at Ridgefield and Christian Swain at Evergreen are entering their seventh seasons at their schools. There are several other coaches (including Adam Mathieson of Camas, Mike Woodward of Battle Ground, Steve Pyne of Union) who have several years as a head coach but are relatively new to their current teams.
There is a lot of turnover in high school coaching.
Kerry Lambert will always remember a word of advice she received before John took over as La Center’s head coach in 1999. Yes, back before the Turn of the Century.
“Better find a role in the football program if you are going to marry a coach, or you’re going to be lonely,” Kerry said. “It was the best advice.”
Kerry is at every game, camera in hand, getting views from the sidelines to help capture the memories.
“Part of supporting John and loving being a coach’s wife has been knowing the impact that coaching and football has meant to the kids. That’s from getting to know the kids and their families,” Kerry said.
She said one must embrace the challenge of being a coach’s wife, knowing that their husband is making a difference in a teen’s life. Also, while the weekends are shot during the season, the job never really takes a break. There are down times in the offseason, but it is a year-round commitment.
Lambert said there are a “ton more rules” for the coaches and more clinics to attend in order to coach now than in 1999. In the 1990s there was starting to be a push for more offseason programs. Now, those are the norm, as is going to team camp in the summer. More days for football obviously means less days for other things.
Which is why husband and wife have to make a great team to do this for 27 seasons.
“That’s why you don’t see as many people coaching as long as I do. It’s a huge commitment. It’s not just football,” John said. “(Some) went into coaching just to coach kids, have fun, learn, and grow, and challenge each other. Everything outside of that, it’s not worth it (to many). We’re not getting rich out of this.”
Some coaches get burned out from the job. It is a grind.
Then there is John Lambert, who seems to have the same energy now as he did when he led La Center to the state’s final four in 2003.
Oh yes, you gotta win, too. John Lambert is 193-81, according to Southwest Washington football historian Bryan Levesque’s research.
But John Lambert will never use those numbers to determine the success of his program.
“We put an emphasis on growing these young guys,” John Lambert said.
“I have a great situation at La Center, with the teachers, the admin, the community,” he added.
While everyone wants to win, the community backs the coach, knowing that winning is secondary to the goal of making leaders out of the young people Lambert works with every year.
“The longer I coach, the more I realize that’s the most important stuff. If we only focus on wins and losses, life would be miserable. The wins are expected and the losses are devastating. If that was our only focus, it would be miserable.”
Instead, life is joyous for the Lamberts.
Kerry said she loves getting to know the new parents who have children joining the program for the first time.
“Their lives are about to change, but in the most exciting way,” Kerry Lambert said.
Starting Wednesday, it will officially be football season for the Lamberts and all associated with the game in Washington.
So this weekend, it’s one final trip for the waterslides, and then it will be time to bring out the helmets, the whistle, and the camera.
The Lamberts are ready for Season 27.
Also read:
- City of Vancouver honors first recipient of new Dave Miletich Volunteer Coach of the Year Award
Vancouver Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services has created the Dave Miletich Volunteer Coach of the Year Award and named youth basketball coach Karon Lewis as its first recipient. - High school sports: Columbia River (2A), Seton Catholic (1A) settle for second in state soccerColumbia River and Seton Catholic each earned second-place finishes in state soccer as multiple Southwest Washington teams wrapped up fall sports with deep postseason runs.
- Doc Harris Stadium crew in Camas works overtime for special playoff doubleheader
Doc Harris Stadium staff worked a 13-hour day to host two football playoff games, supporting fans from four programs. - High school sports: Four Clark County girls soccer teams reach final four in their bracketsFour Clark County girls soccer teams reached the state semifinals as Columbia River and La Center volleyball both earned trophies at their tournaments.
- High school sports: Columbia River, La Center volleyball reach the final fourColumbia River and La Center advanced to state volleyball semifinals as multiple Clark County teams compete in weekend football and girls soccer playoff action.
