Familiar face Jeff Mitchell sticks with it, takes over as Bemidji's new head coach
May 12—BEMIDJI — Jeff Mitchell and Rick Toward have worked hand-in-hand to grow Bemidji's youth soccer community for the better part of 25 years. It was a partnership that worked on and off the field. Toward was the good cop.
Mitchell was the bad cop, at least that's how he put it. "Most of the time, I was yelling about something both of us didn't like, but one of us had to stay in the game," Mitchell quipped. "That role is going to be reversed.
I have to be more laid back and less vocal. " On April 1, Toward announced his departure from the Bemidji High School boys soccer head coaching position, a role he's held since 1995. He jumped at the opportunity to move to Uruguay for a 180-degree shift in his teaching career as he inches towards retirement.
There had only been three head coaches in program history until Mitchell was promoted to the helm on May 8. Toward is never too late to credit Mitchell for his coaching prowess, especially in the tactical aspects of soccer. However, as similar as the two think when it comes to fielding a soccer team, their backgrounds differ.
Toward is a Minnesota-raised high school teacher who has spent the majority of his life in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. He's been the measured, but stern, voice on the sidelines of BHS and the Bemidji Youth Soccer Association (BYSA) for over 30 years. Mitchell, an Oklahoma native, lived in the south until he moved to Bemidji in 1999.
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