Apr 11, 2016 4 min read

In 1967, Art Richardson, a world history teacher at Trinity High School, approached athletic director Milton Decker with the wild idea of starting a boys soccer team.

“He thought it was a good idea, Richardson recalled. “He got us a field, a budget and I was the coaching staff.”

The first thing Richardson had to do as coach of the Hillers’ newest sports team was find players.

“In class, I would ask the students if they wanted to play soccer. I found my goalkeeper, George Hull, who played in the band. That was a good start.”

After getting enough players to field a team, the Hillers were ready to compete, but ready not win right away. The Hillers, however, eventually learned to win, and win big against some of the best teams in Pennsylvania.

“Our first season, we were 3-6-5,” Richardson said. “It was my only non-winning season in my coaching career.

“Some of my players who went on to the military felt boot camp was easy compared to my practices. Soccer is a complicated sport. It’s tough to teach.”

The coach was a student of the game when he played soccer at the University of Pittsburgh. At Pitt, Richardson was a three-year letterman and in 1966 was team captain.

Richardson continued to play soccer while coaching the Hillers as a member of two professional teams, the Pittsburgh Cannons (1973) the Pittsburgh Miners (1975).

“I loved the game. It’s a great game. It’s a tough game but one I love,” Richardson said. Richardson found success coaching the Hillers and turned Trinity into a WPIAL and PIAA powerhouse.

From 1968 to 1985, the Hillers’ record was 225-61-33. That includes 10 conference championships, a WPIAL title in 1974 and a share of the state championship in 1983.

Richardson had the talent to win.

“I was lucky because I had kids who worked hard and had talent and loved the game,” Richardson said.

Under Richardso, Trinity produced 84 All-WPIAL players and 11 All-PIAA players.

Who were some of his best players?

“There were so many good ones,” Richardson said. “One of the best John Columbo. The first time he played soccer he became an all-WPIAL all-star .He was a natural athlete. H could have easily played football and been successful.

“John was really good and his soccer career included playing professionally for the Tampa Bay Rowdies.”

Kory Sensky was another good one. A goal-scoring machine, Sensky garnered All-America honors in high school.

“The best defender I ever coached was Greg Day,” Richardson added “He might have been the best ever in high school.

“Mike Ault was another good one. I mean really good, but because of politics he never got the honors he deserved.”

Richardson had the pleasure of coaching Gregg Gaido, a goalkeeper who was all-WPIAL in 1983 and the Hillers’ team captain.

“Greg was lights-out in 1983. He recorded 20 shutouts (still a Trinity record) and 31 career shutouts (another Hiller record). H goals against average in 1983 was 0.59,” Richardson said.

“It’s was simple as this: when the game started the coach stopped coaching. The players have to read the game, they have to know what is going on. It’s like slow-motion hockey. Players are not a machine. The ten guys on the field, they are on

their own. I can’t call a timeout. The kids have to know where to go and when to go. Everything that takes place on the field is on their minds. As a coach, I do all my work before the game starts.”

So what are some keys to coaching?

“There are two parts. There’s the teaching part. And like the teacher in the classroom, you have to be genuine. That will get respect from the kids.”

The Hillers excelled in scoring and playing solid defense. During Richardson’s coaching career at Trinity, the Hillers scored 1,104 goals and allowed just 341. That included 141 shutouts.

The highlight of Richardson’s career at Trinity was the epic 1983 PIAA championship game against Bethlehem Freedom that ended in a tie because of darkness after an amazing 16 overtimes. Yes, 16 overtimes.

“The state championship year we had great players,” Richardson said. “The championship game went 16 overtimes. That’s the equivalent to playing back-to-back 2 full games. I made one substitution the whole game. Ten of my eleven players played every second.”

There also were a few heartbreaks along the way.

“We lost three WPIAL championship games on penalty kicks. I still think about those,” Richardson said.

Richardson is a member of the Pennsylvania Coaches Hall of Fame and in 2003 was inducted in the Washington/Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Bill DiFabio writes a column about local sports history for the Observer-Reporter.