For the first time in 15 years, someone other than Butch Richards will be sitting at the head of the bench during Belfast boys varsity basketball games.

Richards, who has also been an assistant coach and co-head varsity football coach at Belfast for nine years, resigned as basketball coach for family and employment reasons.

“I’ve been a stay-at-home dad for seven years, which made it pretty easy to coach two varsity sports, but my wife and I are switching responsibilities,” Richards explained. “She’s going to be the stay-at-home parent and I got a teaching job in another school district with a fairly healthy commute and I just didn’t feel I could continue doing both jobs with all the changes.”

The 47-year-old Richards and his wife have a 7-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile,” he said. “The idea of being gone all day, leaving the house at 5:30 in the morning, and maybe not getting home until 12:30 at night, that just wasn’t something I could see myself doing.”

Richards, who will retain his football post, led the Lions to the Eastern Maine Class B tournament five times during his tenure, advancing to the quarterfinals four times and the semis once.

“I think the 1996-97 team was a favorite of mine just because of the personalities on the team. They were a fun group and it was a dream attitude-wise. The main thing was the team chemistry was unbelievable,” said Richards. “From a coaching standpoint, one of the things I’ll miss most is the camaraderie between the coaches.”

Belfast is currently taking applications for the basketball post, which could be an attractive one with young talent as both Belfast’s JV and freshman teams went 15-3 last season.

Rogers, Sevigny all-district picks

Recent graduates Brett Rogers from Mount Ararat of Topsham and Kevin Sevigny from Sanford were selected for the 17-member National High School Baseball Coaches Association 2002 All-District 1 team. District 1 encompasses Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Neither of the two Mainers were selected to the NHSBCA All-America first, second, or third teams. In all, the NHSBCA selects eight all-district teams.

Gatorade honors Maine pair

Jesse Ludwig of South Portland and Stephanie McCusker of Lisbon have been picked as Gatorade’s State High School Boys and Girls Track and Field Players of the Year. Both are now among the 102 finalists for the Gatorade National Athlete of the Year honors as well.

Ludwig set the Class A state long jump record (23 feet) and was second in the triple jump, 110-meter hurdles, and 300 hurdles at states. McCusker won state titles in the long jump and triple jump while finishing second in the high jump and third in the 100-meter dash. Both will attend the University of Maine this fall.

Soccer school’s in session

While most high school students still have another month before they have to worry about going back to school, soccer coaches will be attending classes in another week.

The Maine Principals’ Association-mandated rules interpretation meetings have been scheduled for all school varsity soccer coaches required by the MPA to attend a meeting with a state soccer rules interpreter.

Maine Association of Soccer Officials rules interpreter Bob White will conduct seven meetings across the state over an 18-day period to review 2002 rules changes, existing rules, MPA soccer committee policies, and officials’ mechanics/signals.

Meetings will be held at the following locations and times: Northern Maine Technical College’s Christie Hall in Presque Isle (6:45 p.m.) on Aug. 7, Scarborough High School (10 a.m.) and Edward Little High in Auburn (6 p.m.) on Aug. 18, Waterville High (7 p.m.) on Aug. 21, Washington Academy in East Machias (6 p.m.) Aug. 22, and Georges Valley High in Thomaston (2 p.m.) as well as Orono High (7 p.m.) on Aug. 25.

Field hockey player raising funds

Piscataquis of Guilford field hockey player Tedianne Galuski is seeking donations for upcoming trips with the Maine Event field hockey team.

Maine Event, a travel team of 18 top high school field hockey players in the state, is scheduled to represent Maine in the upcoming Cape Cod Classic in Massachusetts and the U.S Field Hockey Festival in Palm Springs, Calif.

Make checks payable to either Maine Event or Tedianne Galuski. Her address is P.O. Box 461, Guilford, Maine, 04443.

Preseason guides ready for officials

The National Federation of State High School Associations and Referee Enterprises, Inc. are hoping to educate officials on new rules for fall sports.

To that end, the NFHS and REI, which publishes Referee magazine, distributed free preseason publications for football, soccer and volleyball to more than 50,000 high school officials across the country.

The publications are geared to high school officials and include 2002-03 rule change information, officiating tips and mechanics and game administration help.

The two organizations are working on guides for basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball.

For more information visit www.nfhs.org or www.referee.com.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or ANeff@bangordailynews.net