Donna Wiedeburg Honored as Girls Coach of the Year

Sidney Red Raider Cross Country Head Coach Donna Wiedeburg has been honored as the 2021-22 Nebraska Coaches Association/Hudl Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year. Wiedeburg has coached Cross Country in the Sidney Public School system for fifteen years, ten as an assistant coach and five as Head Coach. She coached this years' Girls Class C State Championship team, and it was the first State Championship win for the Sidney girls team.

Wiedeburg was chosen by her peers for the honor over many deserving others due to her dedication and the success her teams have had since she has been Head Coach. With her positive attitude and focus on teamwork and team building, Wiedeburg has created a program that is always at the top tier in the Panhandle, and more than a match for the eastern Nebraska teams.

Wiedeburg started coaching back in 2007 when she was approached by James McGown, the Head Coach at the time, to help him as his assistant coach.

She said, “I showed I showed up to practice one day after school to see what this program was all about and within my first 5 minutes there, I was in love with this program. I didn't know I wanted to be a cross country coach but I knew I wanted to impact students in a positive way and I think cross country is an awesome platform to be able to do that. 

When asked where she gets inspiration and coaching methods from, she said, “I read almost everything I can find on running and coaching. I have read almost every Jon Gordon book, he is a wonderful author who focuses on the power of positivity and being a good leader and team player.”

She also knows the value of relationships, and relies on her friendships with other coaches, teachers and administrators to help her student-athletes succeed. Her focus is to give her student-athletes all the tools they need to be successful and breed an atmosphere of teamwork and success. Although she puts a lot of hours in for the team during the season, her work and effort on the team is a year-round endeavor, and the results speak for themselves with multiple State Championship titles over the years.

“I am also blessed to be married to someone I draw inspiration from on a daily basis, my husband Fred is an unseen volunteer for our team as he constantly listens to my ideas and plans and encourages me to be the best I can be. He also puts up with the long hours and usually kisses me on the cheek on the first day of school and smiles and tells me he will see me after the season is over,” said Wiedeburg.

The entire program, from Middle School up through High School, has an attitude of selflessness, positivity and team effort, where the student-athletes are constantly encouraging each other and put the team first. When asked how she was able to instill those values in the student-athletes, Wiedeburg said, “I would love to say I did that but I think we just have amazing kids! Year after year we are so blessed by phenomenal student athletes. We do "bigs-littles" where juniors and seniors are paired up with 7th and 8th graders as mentors and I think helps encourage positive relationships from our youngest members to our veteran runners. We also focus a lot on community service and giving back to our community and I think that helps teach kids to focus on things other than themselves. We discourage our athletes from saying the words "can't" or "hate" and I think eliminating those words and thoughts, help create a more positive atmosphere.”

A big reason for the consistent success at the High School is the well organized and competitive Middle School program, and Wiedeburg starts scouting potential standouts as early as Elementary School. She said, “It's great to have kids who can run and I will admit that I watch running form on every kid that I see running, no matter what the grade level they are in. I am usually out on the track during the West Elementary SMAC Track Meet and the Presidential Fitness runs and do keep an eye out for kids who love to run and have a great running stride. However, in an effort to get all kids involved, we do look for those kids who aren't in a fall sport and we try to bring them into our cross country family regardless of talent.

The Cross Country team has had many standouts over the last few years, and it seems that every year a fresh group of talented athletes fill in the spots to keep Sidney at the top of the rankings. Wiedeburg is excited about the young talent she has coming up, saying, “The future of the Sidney Raider Cross Country team is bright for both boys and girls.” It is true that we will lose some incredible senior athletes but we have seen this happen year after year and someone always steps up. I think we have figured out how to get the kids to work hard and how to get the best out of our athletes so I see the future as bright as it has been. Another exciting aspect of our team is it truly is a family and we have had many siblings join because their brother or sister was a runner on our team and loved it. On the girls side, we will lose two senior varsity members but we have a few girls that are already on the high school team capable of filling those spots. The girls are super supportive of one another and they are extremely close as a team. It was fun to watch them continue to grow this season and it will be exciting to see them compete again next fall and grow stronger as individuals and closer as a team.”

Wiedeburg is always planning for the future of the team, and is excited about the talent the underclass runners bring as well as the runners about to make the jump from Middle School to High School.

She said, “The future of the Sidney Raider Cross Country team is bright for both boys and girls! It is true that we will lose some incredible senior athletes but we have seen this happen year after year and someone always steps up. I think we have figured out how to get the kids to work hard and how to get the best out of our athletes so I see the future as bright as it has been. On the girls side, we will lose two senior varsity members but we have a few girls that are already on the high school team capable of filling those spots. The girls are super supportive of one another and they are extremely close as a team. It was fun to watch them continue to grow this season and it will be exciting to see them compete again next fall and grow stronger as individuals and closer as a team.  Our middle school athletes are crazy talented and some will be joining the ranks of their high school peers next fall.  Our middle school athletes look up to the high school runners and I think they are excited to one day fill those spots.  I am excited for that too and look forward to next summer when our family gets together again.”

Wiedeburg has built a tradition of excellence with the Sidney Cross Country program, and with the work ethic and energy she brings, look for the Red Raiders to continue their success for many years to come.