The Coaching career for Jay Webber started at Waterville high school as an assistant coach to the legendary and WIBCA Hall of Famer Wayne Worthem in 1988. Jay helped Wayne earn a sixth-place trophy that year before leaving for Dayton High School in the fall of 1988 for his first head coaching position.
Jay coached at Dayton from 1988-1995. In 1994, the Bulldogs earned a fifth-place trophy at State and followed it up in 1995 with the school’s first State B Championship.
One of the star players on the 1995 Dayton team was Will Hutchins. “Over the course of my life, I have come to understand the importance of great leadership. The best teams, programs, companies-you name it-does not just happen by accident. They start with someone who has a vision and who cares enough to make that vision a reality. That person recruits good people to the leadership team and produces a plan to reach the top. Jay did that at Dayton, and his record at North Central showed that his success was not just an accident. He deserves to take his place among other great coaches the State has produced,” said Hutchins.
In the fall of 1995 Jay accepted the head coaching job at North Central High School in Spokane. During his 18-year tenure, North Central earned trips to the State 3A tournament four times. In 2006, the Indians garnered the fifth-place trophy in the first State appearance at the Tacoma Dome in 55 years. The following year, North Central rebounded from an extremely poor regular season to capture the third-place trophy at State in the Hec Edmundson Arena at the University of Washington. It was truly a magical run at the end of the year.
North Central qualified for the State tournament two more times in 2010 and 2011 with the later team placing sixth in the State at the Tacoma Dome.
Over the 25-year period that Coach Webber served as a Head Coach, six of his teams made the State Tournament. His teams recorded a 16-7 record in State Tournament play.
Jay was Blue Mountain Coach of the Year in 1995 and GSL Coach of the Year in 2004. He coached more than 20 All-League players as well as 3 League MVP’s.
Coach Webber would like to thank all the coaches that influenced him along the way. There were so many that were instrumental in what happed at Dayton and North Central during his tenure, it would be an injustice to mention all of you without leaving one of them out. A special thanks to all the players that he coached and their parents. “The sacrifices that you made were the difference that enabled be to be successful, “says Coach Webber. “A coach is only as great as his players, and I was fortunate enough to have a lot of great players.”
Coach Webber would like to give a special thanks to his wife Jeanine, who made even more sacrifices than the players. The saying “behind every good man, is an even better woman” holds true in this case as well. He would also thank his children Nichole, Nathan (Tessa), Jessica (Spencer), Jenna and his grandchildren (Ellory, Paxton, and Nigel) for all the support they have given me.
