Richardson to coach Westminster boys soccer
Westminster Christian soccer underwent a change at the top this week, but the transition should be a smooth one for the boys program.
Josh Guge, who coached the boys team since 2001 and the girls team since 2004, stepped down as coach of both programs Monday to give his full concentration to his growing art business.
Guge will be replaced as boys coach by Mike Richardson, a lifelong soccer player with an impressive background in professional soccer and youth development.
The girls coaching position remains open.
Richardson worked alongside Guge as a special assistant for the boys program last season, when the Warriors went 13-10-3 and advanced to a Class A sectional final before losing to Winnebago.
A talented artist who has been creating intricate carvings since childhood, Guge sells his own art from his home studio and has given lessons to hundreds of aspiring art students in the area. The choice to leave coaching to dedicate himself fully to his business was a tough one.
"I've always been able to balance a lot of things, including coaching, but it got to the point this year where it was too much to do everything, unfortunately," Guge said. "I had to stick with the art stuff right now.
"It definitely wasn't an easy decision, and it was kind of a last-minute thing how it all came together."
In fact, before he informed Westminster Christian athletic director Rick Palmer about his decision to step down, Guge asked Richardson if he'd be interested in taking over the program. Richardson agreed.
"As a coach you see the development of players and you get connected to them," Richardson said. "Josh and Rick asked me to do it. I have a full-time job, so it was a matter of working those details out. Because the kids and their parents know me, it should be an easy transition."
Richardson was an all-state performer at Lake Park High School and played one season at Illinois State University before turning pro in 1987 at the age of 19 to play with the Chicago Sting of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
When the MISL folded a year later, Richardson joined the Chicago Power of the NPSL from 1988-1994. In 1995, he signed on with the Milwaukee Wave of the same league and played with that club until 2000, when Milwaukee won the NPSL title.
Richardson also played with the outdoor Chicago Stingers of the USL from 1995-98. Because the Stingers enjoyed a feeder agreement with the Chicago Fire of the MLS, Richardson was elevated to the Fire roster for a short time during the 1998 season.
He also has worked extensively with one of the premier club teams in the Chicago area, Sockers FC, most recently as youth development coordinator. He currently runs a soccer school in Palatine called Soccer Enterprises.
Richardson inherits a young team that returns three seniors: Dan Graves, Brady Huddleson and Jake Moeller. "We'll be looking for leadership from those three and we'll be looking for the juniors to step up," said Richardson, who has three children enrolled at Westminster.
"Mike's got unbelievable credentials," Palmer said. "He's played in the MLS, he's played professionally in a bunch of different leagues, he runs his own soccer school in Palatine. He's really, really gifted and talented. I feel really blessed that we'll have someone of his qualifications to step in to this role and take it to the next level.
"Josh did a great job of getting us on the local map. We were one win away from making it to the (Class A) state finals last year. I told him life changes and we have to make hard decisions. Obviously, he came to a fork in the road in his life and he had to make a decision and do what's best for him and his wife."