Ron Butcher, the dean of New England soccer coaches, guided the Keene State College men’s soccer team for 43 years through three different classifications, all with the same aim. Throughout his tenure, whether his team was in the NAIA or the NCAA, Division II or Division III, his goal for the Keene State’s soccer program was unwavering: win.
Appointed head coach in 1970, Butcher nursed Keene State’s program through its early NAIA days, reaching the NAIA national championship game in 1978, and the semifinals in 1981. After his early success at Keene State, Butcher was forced to change gears abruptly when the program was elevated to Division II and entered the New England Collegiate Conference in 1982.
Scouting, recruiting and athletic scholarships became just as important as the game on the field, and Butcher, already wearing many hats in Keene State’s Athletic Department, set about the task of making sure his Owls would not be grounded. Although other programs had more resources, Keene State’s soccer guru still found a way to win, directing the Owls to the 1987 and 1990 ECAC crown.
The winning didn’t stop with KSC’s move to Division III in the fall of 1997. Since joining Division III, the Owls have earned 10 NCAA tournament berths and captured six Little East Conference championships. Named the Little East Conference Coach of the Year in 1999, 2001, 2010, and 2011, Butcher compiled an astonishing 89-21-9 (.786) record in LEC play, with a 15-8-2 (.640) record in the LEC tournament. Both marks stand atop the record book in LEC annals. Butcher, who retired from coaching at the end of the 2013 season, finished with 596 wins, third most amongst Division III coaches. T
he coach of 22 All-Americans, Butcher was inducted into the Keene State Hall of Fame in 2005, becoming the rare inductee who was still an active coach.