Ralph Michaud joins the 300 win club

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Presque isle HIgh School girls soccer coach Ralph Michaud recently joined the 300 win club. Michaud has spent his entire coaching career in Presque Isle.

Ralph Michaud:” I had a wise man tell me one that, that if you start reaching milestones in coaching, there are two reasons that it is going to happen. You coach a really long time and you have really great players. I qualify for both. I coached a really long time and I coached a lot of great players.”

Michaud has spent 38 consecutive years coaching soccer in Presque Isle. He started as a JV Boys soccer coach and then took over the girls varsity job in the 1990′s. He said he has stuck around this long because of his love for the sport.

Michaud:” Soccer in your blood. When I played in college. It has been in my blood since the late 70′s and early 80′s.”

He is just one of three girls coaches to have 300 wins at the same school. The Wildcats have appeared in 7 regional championship games and won four Regional Titles in 2008,2011, and back to back titles in 2017 and 18. He said that during his career he has coached outstanding players who loved the sport. Michaud said that many of his players took up the sport at a young age.

Michaud:” Coaching so long I remember watching the kids at the rec play and then they come up and they are ball runners, then they are varsity players. I have seen a whole generation of kids do that.”

The veteran coach says the support the Wildcats receive from the School Administration, fans and the community plays a role in the team’s success.

Michaud:” Look around at all the complexes and you come up to Presque Isle and we have a turf field. It’s pretty easy to go to practice and easy to play games on what I feel is the best field in the State of Maine.”

Consistency is a key to success and while Michaud has been the head coach for nearly 30 years and normally that would mean working with numerous Assistant Coaches during that time, he has only had a handful of assistant coaches.

Michaud:” All these years I have only had three assistant coaches. Tim Prescott was an assistant in the first years, Mark White was an assistant for 10 and now Dillon Kingsbury is on his 13th season as being my assistant. I have been really fortunate with a lot of great assistants.”

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