Humber Hawks men’s volleyball head coach, Wayne Wilkins, stood up from the bench as Humber was losing by seven points when playing the Mohawk Mountaineers.
He chanted and instructed his players on the side, only sitting back down only after the Hawks returned the serve.
“Of those 400, there’s probably half of those [frustrating moments],” he said.
Wilkins hit the benchmark on Feb. 5, 2023.
He achieved this with the Hawks scoring 3-0 against Sheridan College. He is the second coach to hit 400 in Humber’s history.
Wilkins said in an interview that it took a village to get to that milestone.
“I give all the credit to the administration here in Humber and my family,” he said. “Also, to [Doug] Fox, who hired me on this journey.”
He gave special thanks to the players he has worked with throughout the years.
Wilkins said he has been here with Humber Athletics since the ’90s.
His former coach invited him to rejoin as an assistant, Wilkins said. The opportunity to be head coach came after a few seasons.
Opportunities from other organizations came to him along the way, but he stayed, Wilkins said.
“I knew what we were building here, definitely until we won a national championship, we had no intention of leaving,” he said.
Invitations knocked on his door again after winning the 2012 CCAA National Championship title, Wilkins said.
He stayed, however, because he “enjoys the blue, gold, and white,” he said.
“Humber has sort of been a family for me,” he said. “It’s hard to leave your family, right?”
He wanted to see how players grew over the years, where Humber Athletics could lead them, he said.
It took a lot of labour to get where the team is today.
He said the experience of losing several matches in the first semester emphasized the importance of not being too controlling.
The team lost 75 per cent of their offense after having two players graduate, he said.
He realized that any team who experienced such a change would need time to rebuild, and the process can be painful.
Wilkins worked hand in hand with the players and improved a lot in the second half of the season, he said.
In his 400 wins, he witnessed lots of player transitions.
He said one of their objectives was to “help them transition from young men to men outside of the school [with] full-time jobs and paying taxes.”
“I reminisce watching some of these kids when they were baby faces, and then when they graduated, they got these full beards,” Wilkins said. “I think to myself, we have had a huge impact, not just on the court, but also off the court.”
Middle blocker Maximum Crowder said Wilkins emphasized to players the importance of evolving into their mature self.
“He’s teaching us to grow from boys to men so that one day he can retire knowing we’re smart tax paying citizens,” he said.
Crowder and captain Jake Gomes both said Wilkins was a coach who was authoritative, fatherly, and friendly.
Crowder said Wilkins wouldn’t push athletes by yelling at them, but instead, he gives the players small critiques to make them better.
Gomes said Wilkins was a fatherly coach to him.
He said Wilkins was the person he would go to for mentoring. Wilkins would spent hours to talk to him about life, which made Wilkins feel like his second father.
Going forward, Wilkins set eyes upon adding to his 400 wins.
“We would love nothing better than to win the national championship at home this year,” he said.
He said he knew their road to the throne was long and uncertain.
“Whether they win or they don’t win, what I can tell you is, they are going to work their butts off,” Wilkins said.