LEWISTON — With the start of the lacrosse season less than two weeks away, Lewiston High School is in need of a new girls’ varsity coach.

Butch Dow recently resigned his coaching jobs with both the Lewiston girls’ lacrosse team and the girls’ soccer team.

“It definitely was a tough decisions,” Dow said. “I just thought it was time for some new leadership in those sports.”

Dow informed the school of his intentions to step down last month, trying to provide some time for the school to find a replacement. Dow has indicated he might stay on as the JV lacrosse coach but no decision has been made.

The first practice of the season for lacrosse is March 31.

“It was about a month ago that I decided to resign from both positions,” Dow said. “I just told them that I wasn’t happy being the head coach.”

Lewiston athletic director Jason Fuller is currently away on vacation. He indicated by email that there has been interest expressed in the lacrosse position. He expects to proceed with the hiring process immediately upon his return. As for the soccer opening, he said that hire will likely follow in April.

A paid opportunity with the Bates women’s soccer program is also a factor in Dow’s decision.

“With the Bates thing, I just felt that maybe this was the time to step away,” Dow said.

Dow has been a longtime coach with the Blue Devils’ soccer teams. He has been a goalkeeper coach with both the boys’ and girls’ programs. He became the head coach in 2010 after working with the goalies for the previous five or six years. The soccer program has tried to remain competitive, but wins have been hard to come by. Lewiston went 0-12-2 last fall and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2006.

Dow became the girls’ lacrosse coach two seasons ago and the team has made the playoffs both years. He had been the JV coach prior to taking the varsity job. The Blue Devils went 10-2 last year and earned the third seed in Eastern A before losing to Windham in the first round of the tourney.

Dow has recently been a volunteer assistant coach with the Bates women’s soccer program. He is being considered for a paid position in the coming year. That conflicts with any opportunity to remain with the Lewiston girls’ program, but he hopes to continue assisting Mike McGraw as the keeper coach with the boys’ team.

“I think it’s time for some fresh leadership,” Dow said. “With the opportunity to work with the women’s soccer program at Bates College, it just looked like a good time to look in another direction.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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