Sobotta to step away from Arcadia girls golf after starting program two decades ago

On most days of any Wisconsin fall, spring or summer for the last 20-plus years, a betting person could likely earn themselves some spending cash with a simple wager on Arcadia’s Mike Sobotta.

Put your money on a two-part parlay for a near guaranteed win — Sobotta being on a golf course somewhere was a promising start to the bet.

The easiest play, though, would be betting that the Arcadia High School girls’ golf coach was laughing or had a smile on his face as he helped shape the future of golf in Trempealeau County.

“I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever really seen him get upset on the golf course. When a kid gets a big number on a hole he’s always joking and laughing and that’s his strategy, too,” said Sobotta’s son, Mitch, who played under his father and also coaches the Arcadia High School boys team with him now.

“Kids at 14, 15, they’re not fully mentally developed, so if you can just try to get them to take a positive outlook on anything, even a small joke, that goes a long way,” he said.

Sobotta is stepping away from the girls’ golf program this year, a big change after more than two decades—Sobotta has been the program’s only coach since helping start the Arcadia girls golf team in 1998.

Sobotta also coached the boys program from 1989-2010, a run that included 10 straight state tournament appearances in the 1990s and a state title in 2010.

He was inducted into the Wisconsin Golf Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021.

“I just thought this might be the time to break away, I guess,” Sobotta said. “Usually, every year you look and go, ‘Oh I got this kid coming back, I got this kid coming back.’ I thought it was the right time because I don’t have a connection with the kids.”

Meghan (Sobotta) Murphy was one of the many girls golfers that played under her father. Meghan went on to become an All-American collegiate golfer at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before taking over as head coach of the college program.

She said she owes a lot to her father, as do many other Arcadia golf alumni.

“For me, seeing him as my coach and even seeing him after I was done playing with him, he’s there as a coach on and off the golf course. He wants the best for you outside of golf and was always giving a lot of life lessons related to golf, too,” Meghan said of her father.

Meghan said her father’s impact on the community can be seen when past Arcadia golfers still stop by the family house to visit with Sobotta or ask if he wants to go golfing.

Part of the reason for that, Meghan thinks, is because her father always enjoys being around the golf course.

“He is always joking around, he is always playing some sort of prank. He’s always happy,” she said. “That’s his happy place. If he’s not in his garage fixing little toys or whatever, he’s on the golf course and that’s where he’s happiest.”

Mike said he always tried to focus on two aspects of coaching—prioritizing the short game and keeping practice fun.

“I still think to be successful you need to work on the basics, and that was our thought right away. You’ve got to work on your basics, your short game, your putting, your chipping. Everybody wants that long drive and everything, but 80 percent of all your shots are within 60 yards so you work on the basics, you work on the rules and work on having fun, too,” Sobotta said.

“Sure the kids are going to remember the state tournaments and the championships, but you know what they’re going to remember most is how you treat them. That’s really the big thing, and I guess for the number of kids who came out I treated them okay. I treated them with respect and they treated me with respect and along the way we had a lot of fun.”

Sobotta helped the girls program to 12 conference championships and seven state appearances as a team.

The coach said former Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau coach Don Skwierawski helped him learn how to approach coaching the game and made him better, saying he often worked backwards from the green to the tee-box when teaching the sport.

“We’ve had a great run with the whole community and great support from them and the administration, the kids, the families and parents,” he said.

When he qualified for the state tournament with Meghan, the walk down the hole one fairway was special, he said.

A playoff at Trempealeau Mountain about 15 years ago with Kayla and Brooke Finner also stands out, he said. Kayla advanced to the state tournament by beating her sister by a single stroke.

“I didn’t know who to cheer for. They were sisters, and I almost thought of going to the WIAA and asking them to let them both go if it was between sisters. .. I will never forget that.”

Both of his kids that have now coached themselves say Arcadia is lucky to have had Mike Sobotta.

“I don’t know if words could do it, maybe a tear,” Mitch said. “I don’t think people truly understand in any head coaching job the time that they put in during the season, the offseason and the knowledge you have to have. … thank you would be the best. I don’t know if people will ever understand or truly appreciate what he has done for the game of golf and the community of Arcadia for the last 34 years.”

His sister agreed.

“It shows a lot of who he is as a person and the impact he’s had as a coach in the amount of kids that come back after graduation and swing by the house to say ‘Hi’ and want to play golf and go and hangout with him for the alumni tournament and things like that,” Meghan said. 

“He’s just that overall good guy and a great mentor to have.”

As most people who know Mike Sobotta would guess, though, he was quick to give the credit to those around him. In an adventure he originally thought would last a few years, he now has more than 20 years of memories and connections.

“It’s not just me, it’s us. Great kids, great families, great administration and great community that allowed me to travel all over the state to compete with the best in the state. I just had a great time,” Sobotta said.

“I never thought my boys and girls would be that enjoyable, but the way the community rallied around us and the Arcadia Country Club supported us, it was really a great community effort. I sit back and go, ‘Wow’.