BYRON — The late Mark Cameron, who served as a teacher and coach at Byron High School for 17 years, was inducted into the Illinois Coaches Association Golf Hall of Fame on May 15 in Bloomington.

Cameron began teaching social studies at BHS in 1994, also taking on the role of coach in the basketball, baseball and golf programs; in fact, in terms of the golf program, he was its originator, fulfilling the head coach position from its inception in 1997 until his retirement in 2011. Afterwards, he continued as an assistant coach for another five years.

Under Coach Cameron’s leadership, the program flourished to one of the best in the state, and his accomplishments as a coach were remarkable. Under his tenure as head golf coach, he amassed a match record of 181-21 (90 percent). His teams won nine conference championships, nine IHSA regional championships, two IHSA sectional championships, and they qualified for the IHSA state championship tournament nine times. At the state tournament, the Tigers placed in the top-eight seven times, including being crowned champions in 2007. He had 45 individual all-conference golfers, with four receiving all-state honors.

Cameron was also an instrumental part in supporting younger golfers in the community through his work with the Byron Forest Preserve at Prairie View Golf Course, where he coached the Junior Golf League, provided golf camps, and gave golf lessons. His work at Prairie View extended almost two decades, from 1998 until 2017.

Coach Cameron passed away in 2018, but his family were able to attend the ICA Hall of Fame celebration to accept the recognition for the tremendous impact he had on the sport of golf and the student-athletes that he coached. When asked about the tremendous legacy Coach Cameron left at BHS, his wife, Kay, stated, “Coach Cameron’s greatest legacy was that he taught the tools for success in life: outstanding character, a positive work ethic, preparedness, honesty and desire to be your best.”

“Lifting up others to see them succeed is true success.” -Coach Cameron