Forest Hills Northern coach reaches 200 career wins

Forest Hills Northern coach Joe Soules on the sidelines during a game at Van Andel Arena on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Joe Soules reached 200 career wins as a head coach last week.

The Forest Hills Northern High School coach was appreciative, but said it also makes him feel old.

“I feel like one of the older statesmen now like Scott Soodsma over at Unity, Keith Guy at Muskegon and Pete Van Kempen at Coopersville,” Soules said. “It’s a ton of fun and I want to do it as long as possible.”

He got win No. 200 in the wildest way. His team beat rival Forest Hills Central 77-73 in triple overtime on Friday, Jan. 23.  

“That was a wild, wild game,” Soules said. “It’s meaningful, but that was stressful. I told the boys afterwards (about win No. 200). They didn’t even know. I wanted them to just enjoy the win.”

Does he remember his first win? 

“You wouldn’t believe it. But it was also at Forest Hills Central,” he said.

That was 15 years ago in 2011-12.

“We had guys like Michael McLaughlin, Eric Chilcote, Kyle Thomas … it was a really good group,” he recalled. “I was thankful for the group I inherited from Coach (Steve) Harvey.”

Also from his first team, he mentioned Bryan Case, Jamal White, Trevor Russo, Brett Michaud, Cam Wysocki and Kyle VanVliet.

How long does he want to coach?

“I have two girls who are 7 and 5 years old,” he said. “You don’t want to miss any of those moments with them. I’m thankful my wife (Megan) has allowed me to continue to coach.”

Forest Hills Northern is 9-5 this season so far.

Forest Hills Northern coach Joe Soules and his daughters before a game at Van Andel Arena on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).