BOYS SOCCER: Bell steps down as Gladiators' coach

By: Robert Sisk | News Virginian
Published: June 02, 2010

After 10 years at the helm of the Riverheads boys soccer team, Dickie Bell is stepping down.

Bell told The News Virginian on Tuesday that he will not return to the team that he built into a Shenandoah District powerhouse due to time constraints. Bell told his players his decision after their loss to George Mason on Monday in the Region B quarterfinals.

In November, Bell was elected to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates and he is also a special education teacher at Riverheads High School. Bell coached the Gladiators girls basketball program for six seasons before resigning in April.

“Well, it’s been a very eventful year, being elected to the House of Delegates, and that put a lot of demands on my time,” Bell said. “I don’t like to do anything unless I can do it 100 percent.”

A replacement for Bell has not been announced.

Bell never had a losing season in 10 seasons at Riverheads, and led the Gladiators to six Shenandoah District titles. He finished with a 116-53-13 record.

“The level of play has gotten so much better as so many more people are playing,” Bell said. “We have a full district now. When I started we had, I think, three teams. We had to play each other three times a year just to fill out the schedule. The growth was fun to see.”

In 2007, Bell coached the Gladiators to a Group A final four, where they lost to the eventual state champion Radford.

“I’ve never had a team as focused and determined as they were,” Bell said of his 2007 team. “When they were freshmen, we threw them in the fire and started five or six of them. They took some lumps. We had a game at Central and we always had trouble with them, but we won almost at the final horn with six of those freshmen on the field. I really believe that’s when we turned the corer. Those kids believed in themselves that night.”

Bell also noted that the commitment to athletics has changed since he started coaching.

“Things have changed a lot in 10 years,” Bell said. “We don’t have the same commitment that we once did when we put the program together. There are a lot of distractions that make it hard to prepare. I don’t think we should have to go to any game and do the coaching from the sidelines.”