honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, June 8, 2004

HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER
Miller resigns after one season at Iolani

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Ric Miller, the Advertiser's 2004 State Boys Soccer Coach of the Year, has resigned after one season as varsity head coach at Iolani School.

"I just went there with the intention of going and helping them out," said Miller, an Iolani alum. "I never really thought about doing it long term."

Iolani won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship for the first time since 2001, and Miller was selected as the ILH's Coach of the Year.

"He did a great job this year," Iolani athletic director Judith Hiramoto said. "He wants to spend more time with his family."

Miller joined the Iolani staff last year initially as an associate head coach for program development, in charge of coordinating the intermediate, junior varsity and varsity soccer programs.

He was supposed to assist Felipe Vega-Arango, who was hired as the head coach, but Vega-Arango had "re-entry problems with immigration," according to Hiramoto, and couldn't return to the United States after visiting his home in Spain.

Miller took over as interim head coach in August and led Iolani to a second-place finish in the state. The Raiders lost to Mililani, 1-0, on penalty kicks in the championship game.

"He came in and stepped in and did a most credible job," Hiramoto said.

Miller is the second high school coach of a high-profile soccer program to resign recently. Scott Keopuhiwa, who coached the Pearl City boys varsity soccer team for five years, resigned in April.

Like Keopuhiwa, Miller cited time commitments as the main reason for his resignation, calling it a "lifestyle decision."

He is also an assistant director of coaching for the Mililani Soccer Club, which he was with for three years, including two years as head director of coaching.

He took a seven-month leave of absence from the club to coach Iolani, calling his time with the Raiders a "dream year."

"I came back to my club, and I really like it here," Miller said. "I asked myself, 'Do I really want to work this hard?' I don't know if I want to go through all that again."

Miller played on state championship teams at Iolani in 1974 and 1975 and was taken in the third round of the 1980 North American Soccer League draft, becoming the first player from Hawai'i to be drafted to play professional soccer.

Like Keopuhiwa, Miller said he has no intentions of coaching at another high school.

"I'm not leaving to go somewhere else," he said. "It was so good, what would I do for an encore?"

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.