Barry Mitchell returned from a business trip to his home just outside of Tulsa, Okla., in 1978. His wife, Marlene, was waiting with a surprise.
“After I got home, she told me what she’d done,” Barry recalled.
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While Barry was away for work, Marlene received the news that one of her sons was on the verge of seeing his summer soccer team disbanded. They didn’t have a coach.
Without hesitation, Marlene volunteered Barry’s services.
“I had absolutely no idea what soccer was or how to coach it – not a clue,” Barry said with a laugh. “Our middle son wasn’t going to get to play. There were 10 other kids that weren’t going to have a team to play on because of it. Not that I had a choice, but we went from there.”
Barry didn’t know he was signing up for a 46-year commitment. It was the summer that kickstarted a coaching career and strengthened his family’s love for soccer.
As time wore on, Barry refined his craft. His son, Jeff, followed in his footsteps. Now, Jeff’s son, Logan, is following in his.
But instead of building a three-generation coaching legacy in the South, the Mitchell family landed in Bemidji.
“(We) vacationed up here, and it just sucked us in I guess,” Jeff said. “I brought my wife up here, and she liked it. So when we got done with college, we made a pros and cons list and decided to give it a whirl up here. We probably won’t ever leave.”
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Jeff moved to Bemidji in 1999, and his soccer-crazed mentality pushed him to get involved at the youth level. He approached longtime Bemidji High boys head coach Rick Toward with an idea to rejuvenate youth soccer, creating a more competitive lane for thousands of underutilized athletes.
“(Bemidji) had youth soccer going through Community Education at the time for the little kids,” Jeff said. “Most of the (coaches) they had out there were football players, baseball players. A lot of them had never played soccer. It kind of changed when I started talking to Rick. We wanted to bring that program under the Bemidji Youth Soccer Association, and it’s just continued to grow.”
When the revamp happened 25 years ago, it started with roughly 150 kids. Now, over 500 players, either playing competitively or recreationally from ages 4-19, play in the Bemidji Youth Soccer Association – one of the area’s most prominent youth athletic programs.
And at any given practice, scrimmage or tournament, you’ll likely see a Mitchell family member on the sideline.
Barry, 85, hasn’t given up coaching. Jeff, 52, serves as a coach and the program’s club administrator. And now, Logan, 22 – a product of the program – is paying it forward as a coach.
“It’s a sport I love, and I just want to see it keep growing in Bemidji,” Logan said. “I hope it gets bigger and bigger because we still need some of the recognition we don’t have being from a smaller town in northern Minnesota. I don’t think my dad and Rick could’ve picked a better place to get a big program up and running. I’m so extremely thankful for everything they do for the community.”
Planting new roots
When Jeff and his wife moved to Bemidji, they didn’t have kids to place in the youth program. It proved to be a bit of a hurdle for getting involved in youth soccer.
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“When I came up here, I tried to get on the board of directors,” Jeff said. “They wouldn’t let me because I didn’t have a kid playing, which was a rule at the time. I got on the board the next year, and I’ve been on it for 24 years now.”
Long after Jeff got a handle on things, Barry made the move up from Oklahoma. He and Marlene settled in Bemidji 12 years ago. His itch to coach soccer traveled with him.
“For the longest time, I never knew that he didn’t actually play and only got into coaching when my dad was younger,” Logan said of Barry. “Seeing him do that, and then eventually getting to coach with him and seeing how he coaches and what he knows without ever playing the game himself, it’s honestly extraordinary. The things he knows and how he can get kids to progress, it’s remarkable.”
Through each stage in the latter half of his life, Barry kept coaching. He stuck with it after moving to Minnesota, then again after his wife died in 2021. For Barry, soccer has been a rewarding cornerstone.
“It’s the kids,” Barry said. “I hear people my age talk about the younger generation. They say it’s going to hell in a handbasket. That’s because they don’t know them. These kids are great.”
By the time Barry got settled into Bemidji, his grandsons, Logan and Cole, were middle school-level players.
“I think I was 3 years old when they first brought me out here and I started doing rec soccer,” Logan said. “Ever since then, I just stuck with it and kept playing. My first soccer memories are kicking the ball around with my dad and my grandpa. I’ve been at these fields my whole life.”
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Logan had a standout high school career with the Lumberjacks, helping BHS to state tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018 before graduating in 2020.
However, Logan didn’t necessarily see himself extending the Mitchell family coaching tree.
“When I was younger, I never really thought about (coaching),” Logan said. “Once I got to high school, I started coaching the rec kids here, and I enjoyed it. But even doing that, I never really thought I’d start coaching (beyond that). But I’m really glad I did.”
Together, the Mitchells all work toward the same goal, regardless of what level they’re coaching. They instruct with an emphasis on development, serving as a feeder program to the high school teams from the ground up.
But more importantly, they aim to give kids positive, life-building experiences.
“Part of why Bemidji soccer is so successful at the high school level is because of the seamless transition from youth to the school program,” Toward said. “It’s the same voice from when they start until they’re 19 years old. It may come out of a different mouth, but it’s the same voice. It’s the same song, and that’s largely driven by what Jeff sees as a way to teach and play the game.”
Progressing in all areas
Over the course of 25 years, Jeff has seen a competitive bump across the board. Players at each level are further developed than they were before the program was revamped in large part due to the continuity through coaching.
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“(The competitiveness) is higher now than it was 25 years ago, and hopefully, it’ll get better, too,” Jeff said. “The struggle we have is we don’t have multiple options for kids. We don’t have a separate competitive program. If you know you’re going to make a team, you don’t have to (give) 100% to make it. We want to get to a point where kids are pushing and being pushed for (roster) spots.”
Despite the lack of competitive avenues for youth players beyond what the Bemidji Youth Soccer Association currently has to offer, Bemidji still plays at a higher level than towns of similar population.
Toward, who’s entering his 30th year coaching the Lumberjacks, is reaping the developmental awards in Section 8-3A.
“Look at the towns similar to our size like Detroit Lakes and Crookston. We’d still be one of those kinds of programs competitively if Jeff didn’t show up.
“Now, we beat Moorhead, we beat Brainerd, we beat (St. Cloud) Tech. We sent the U19 boys to four tournaments this summer, and they were in the championship game in all four of them, winning two of them and losing the other two in (penalty kicks). We’re playing at a high level, and a lot of it has to do with those three Mitchells.”
But what each Mitchell coach had to learn was the ability to adjust their expectations and approach for different age groups. Jeff and Barry got an understanding of that when they coached in Oklahoma, and Logan is learning as he gets deeper into coaching.
“I needed to learn the nurturing side of it,” Jeff said. “When you look at that aspect with a younger age group, you want them to compete, but you also want them to do their very best. We’re not trying to put the super team out there – a team of 8, 9-year-olds who are the fastest and most athletic. We want to teach kids the game and help them develop. We want them to learn the game.”
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Jeff expects to have a fourth Mitchell on the pitch next summer when his oldest son, Cole, rejoins the youth soccer program. For Jeff, the youthful injection into the Bemidji youth soccer coaching scene is needed.
“At some point in time, my dad will be done coaching, and so will I, and so will Rick,” Jeff said. “We need those guys like my sons Logan and Cole coming up doing this stuff. We need guys like (BHS girls soccer head coach) Logan Larsen, or Rick’s daughter Harper (Toward). We need that next generation to come through and continue this. I’m just so happy two of my kids want to do it.”
But above all else, the Mitchells are thankful to be in it together.
“Seeing my son, my grandson out here, it makes me so proud,” Barry said. “It makes me go to tears. They’re the people that you’ve gotten to see grow in the sport over time. Now they’re paying it forward to the next generations. … I always mention this (to the players), what we coach doesn’t just pertain to soccer. This is life. These are lessons you learn in soccer that you take with you as you get older. That’s very rewarding to me. It keeps me young.”
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