Claire Boughton
Senior Sports Reporter
What does a man who coached men’s soccer at Keene State College for 43 years have in common with Frank Sinatra?
He did it his way.
On September 21, directly after the Owls’ 3-1 victory over Rhode Island College, Keene State’s soccer stadium was renamed after the now-retired coach, Dr. Ron Butcher.
Butcher coached at Keene from 1970 to 2013 and holds an impressive final record of 596-263-72. Alongside his remarkable win-lose-tie numbers, Butcher also received many honorary titles such as two-time NAIA Coach of the Year, NEISL Division II New England Coach of the Year, and four-time LEC Coach of the Year.
However, those titles and numbers only scrape the surface of the man Ron Butcher is and the coach he was.
In Butcher’s 43 years at Keene State he not only changed the campus, but also the student-athletes that looked up to him.
Mark Babineau, a former player of Butcher’s and member of the 1983 men’s soccer team that was recently inducted into the Keene State Hall of Fame, spoke highly of the man he once called coach.
“Words cannot describe what this guy has done for all of us young men,” Babineau said. “[Butcher] is the single greatest motivator that I’ve ever met.”
Babineau was one of the seven members of Butcher’s 1983 team who stood beside him at the field dedication ceremony.
“When he was yelling at me the very first time, and I mean yelling… he said ‘Babineau if I ain’t yelling at you, you ain’t playing,’” Babineau recalled after the ceremony with a smile on his face. “Every freshman that walked in after that point I [would say] ‘guys, if he’s yelling at you, you’re doing well, if he isn’t you’re in trouble… so you better get him yelling at you.’”
Dr. Melinda Treadwell, President of Keene State College and an alumna herself, also attended the ceremony and spoke about her own encounters with Butcher when she was an Owl.
“I [have an] incredible memory of him… honestly… yelling at me to run faster and in games yelling at me to shoot the ball,” Treadwell, who played on Keene State’s women’s basketball team, recalled. “What I [knew] in him then is what I have the privilege [of] knowing in him today… he expects people to step up when he knows you can.”
Current men’s soccer coach, Rick Scott, not only played for Butcher from 1973 to 1976, he also coached alongside Butcher for 22 years before taking over the program when Butcher stepped down.
“He did pay his dues,” Scott said when remembering the many years of standing on the sidelines of games with his friend, clipboard in hand and hat on the ground.
“His heart and soul went into Keene State College… he spearheaded the whole effort for this field and he just wanted it to be perfect and it is,” Scott said.
What few know is that Butcher was the driving force behind the development of the stadium that now bears his name.
The men’s soccer team’s first field was where the tennis courts now stand. From there they moved to the Sumner Joyce Fields, then to the turf that is currently used by sports like field hockey and lacrosse.
Butcher demanded, dealt, and soon developed the all-grass soccer stadium Keene has today.
“He made [coaching] real easy for me,” Scott smiled when recalling what it was like working alongside his ex-coach. “He gave me a lot of responsibility, he trusted me, he showed me that he was going to trust me, and he was awesome.”
The dedication ceremony hosted various speakers such as Phil Racicot, Athletic Director, and Kemal Atkins, Vice President of Student Affairs, recalling their memories and stories they had heard about Butcher.
However, the most important speaker to take the stage was Dr. Ron Butcher himself, who captured the attention of everyone in the crowd the moment he took the microphone.
“It was overwhelming,” Butcher said after his emotional speech. “But, being a coach, you’re used to being overwhelmed and underwhelmed… when you look out and see all the people in the stands and all your players… from each decade… and these guys are bringing up stories and stories and stories… that’s 43 years of memories.”
But where does Frank Sinatra play into all of this?
“[I think of] the song, ‘I Did it My Way,’ [because] I did it my way,” Butcher said with a subtle smile on his face. “I always felt that I knew how to win, I always felt that I could get the best out of my players, and some of them didn’t realize it at the time, but now 5, 10, 15, 20, years later they understand what it was all about, and that’s the most important thing to me.”
Butcher, who retired as a coach in 2013, can still be found on the Keene State campus working part-time in marketing for the Keene State athletic department. He still commits his time to making Keene State athletics the best it can be from planning and working at events to even running Keene State’s very own golf tournament.
Ron Butcher left a mark on the college and on the hearts of everyone who attended from 1970 and on, and now finally the college has gotten a chance to repay him.
And with the words of the late, great, Frank Sinatra, Ron Butcher leaves us with this:
“Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew / When I bit off more than I could chew / But through it all, when there was doubt / I ate it up and spit it out / I faced it all and I stood tall / And did it my way.”
Claire Boughton
can be contacted at
cboughton@kscequinox.com
