Superior teacher to be inducted into Butte Sports Hall of Fame

Lining the walls of the lobby at the Butte Civic Center are glass cases filled with plaques. Each one features a photo of an individual or team along with a short biography of their accomplishments in the world of sports. For 30 years, a Hall of Fame committee and a public forum selects around 15 individuals and teams to be inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame each year.

Superior teacher and coach Jamie (Wolstein) Toivonen was selected to be awarded in the Class of 2017, out of nearly 144 nominees. She will join 10 other individuals and four teams on June 16 to receive her Butte Sports Hall of Fame green jacket and participate in the annual ceremony at the Civic Center.

According to her biography, “Jamie was a standout three-sport athlete for Butte High School in the early 1990s. She earned 11 varsity letters while playing for the Bulldogs. That includes four letters in volleyball and track and three in basketball. She was a member of Butte High’s only state championship volleyball team, earning All-State honors as a setter. She also took home All-State honors at setter as a senior in 1995. Jamie played in four state tournaments for the Bulldogs before she took her talent to the University of Montana volleyball team. She played for the Grizzlies from 1996 through 1999.

“As a senior at the 1995 Class AA State track meet, Jamie won the state title in the long jump. She also placed fourth in the high jump and ran a leg on both relay teams. As a freshman, Jamie won the Montana AAU high jump title. She placed second at the regional meet. Jamie took home Butte High’s prestigious Outstanding Female Athlete Award following her senior season. Currently Jamie is the head track coach at Superior High School. In 2013, her Bobcats captured the Class C state title.”

“I was humbled that I was selected,” Toivonen said. “I look at so many other athletes go through high school in Butte, and the other nominees and their accolades and thought, no way would I even be considered.”

It was through her coaches, teammates and her parents, who always supported her, that helped her to succeed.

“Dad coached track when I was around 4 years old and so I grew up around sports,” she said. “My coaches believed in me, and the more they told me and prepared me, the more I started to believe in myself. You can instill confidence as a coach.”

This is something she brings to the teams she coaches at Superior High School, where she is the track coach, the advisor for Business Professionals of America, and teaches driver’s education. Her husband Chris is also from Butte and teaches as well as coaches at Superior. They have two sons, Carson, 8, and Connor, 10. Jamie was friends with Chris’ younger sister and their families knew each other in high school, which is how the two met.

Another inductee in this year’s ceremony is Anna Fabatz. Her list of accomplishments rivals Toivonen’s and it turns out they were best friends throughout their high school career. Both girls were competitive and they played volleyball really well together, with Anna as the outside hitter.

“I was fortunate to have my coaches and teammates to be able to succeed; it was a very special group,” she said. “We played with the same kids through this time and it was a good team. We had a lot of trust in one another, and we didn’t squabble, but supported each other. My team always came first, and if I messed up, they would give me a pat on the back and say “you’ll get the next one”.

Toivonen created some great high school memories and is still friends with her old teammates, “playing high school sports is something you don’t ever have again. You don’t play college ball and get the same feeling.”

As a high school coach in Superior, Toivonen strives to instill some of these values and perspectives into her own teams. Camaraderie is important, and as players they don’t have to be best friends, “but on the court, you are family.”

Toivonen wants her athletes to enjoy this time and create their own great memories. But she also wants to instill a good work ethic and have them work as hard as they can.

“Give a 110 percent and don’t dodge practice. Do what the coach says and you will improve,” she said. “Most people with a good work ethic succeed in whatever they do. You don’t have to be the best athlete, but put in your time and set goals for yourself. Push through and strive to be better.”

She teaches this same ethic to her BPA students, with a record number of members attending nationals in competition this year, “by setting individual goals, and working to improve, you will succeed,” she said.