After eight years as the boys soccer coach and seven years coaching the boys basketball team at Hampden Academy, Andy Frace has turned in his resignation.

Frace said a number of factors led to his decision, including outside pressures.

“I’m getting older, that’s one thing. To be honest, the game has changed. The pressure from fans, pressure from parents, is different than it was in the past,” Frace said.

Frace, 53, led the school’s soccer team to Eastern Maine Class A titles in 1995 and 1998 and reached the Eastern Maine championship game in 1996.

His basketball teams made four appearances at the Bangor Auditorium in the Eastern Maine Class A tournament and lost twice in tourney preliminary games.

He said that although his teams have had success, it hasn’t stopped criticism from reaching him.

“I think in the past my skin was thicker than it is now. It’s the nature of the beast,” Frace said. “You’re there for a while, then people begin second-guessing you. To be honest with you, I don’t really want to be a part of it.”

Frace teaches psychology and sociology at the school. He doesn’t rule out a return to coaching.

“I was glad to have the kids I had. I had a lot of fun with it,” Frace said.

Help in the recruiting process

Doug Curtis Jr. of Rockland sent an e-mail with help for parents whose sons are going through the high school football recruiting process.

Curtis, whose son Mike was a Fitzpatrick Award semifinalist last football season, recently went through the experience. Mike has narrowed his choice to Bowdoin, where he has been accepted, and Davidson College in North Carolina, where he is on a waiting list.

Doug Curtis writes that a Web site was helpful in getting through the process, which he describes as putting the kids “under tremendous pressure,” and also being stressful for parents.

The Web site is titled “A Parent’s Guide to College Football Recruiting” and can be found at members.aol.com/apgtcfr.

The site is maintained by Chip and Margy Harrell, who decided to develop it after going through the college football recruiting process with their son.

The Harrells suggest that parents build a plan for getting their son where he wants to go.

It explains a football recruiter’s mindset: what they are looking for and what they are going through.

It discusses what should go into the final decision: How to weigh the strengths of the school’s academic programs against its football program and, of course, the financial package being offered.

One important aspect pointed out is that parents and their sons need to be realistic when beginning the process. The Harrells point out that only 44 of every 1,223 high school football players go on to play at “major colleges.”

For that and other reasons Doug Curtis Jr. and the Harrells point out, emphasis should be placed on academics. A large majority of college players’ football careers are over after 4-5 years. For most, college is about picking a career, Curtis writes.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net