Lebanon
Taber and Dan McGee — his teammate with both the Raiders and at Maine’s Bates College — were on their way to the Bates class of 1996 20th reunion celebration in June when Taber realized a failure to put his name in the mix would be a mistake.
“It’s a long car ride, and (McGee) kept saying, ‘Breck, you have to apply for that job,’ ” Taber recalled outside Omer & Bob’s sports shop, which he co-owns, on Friday in downtown Lebanon. “Eventually, I realized he was right, that it would be something I’d regret if I didn’t do.”
Taber replaces Shannon Boisvert, who resigned after 11 seasons and a record of 110-71-17 with the Raiders. It’s his first varsity coaching job, yet Taber comes loaded with playing and coaching experience.
The 42-year-old Plainfield resident was a three-year starting forward at Lebanon under Denis Reisch from 1989-91 and was the leading scorer in the Raiders’ lone state boys soccer championship campaign as a senior.
He went on to a four-year playing career at Bates, where he played outside midfielder and finished with a program-record 23 assists. Taber later spent three years coaching under Rob Johnstone with the Raider boys’ freshman and junior varsity teams.
Following a break from the game upon the birth of two daughters, Taber has coached various levels for Plainfield Elementary School girls teams, including the last several years with PES’ fifth- and sixth-grade teams.
That team included his youngest daughter, Kayla; he’ll now have the opportunity to coach his oldest, Ashlyn, a sophomore-to-be at LHS who was on the varsity roster as a freshman.
“I think what I’m looking forward to most in working with this age group is their ability to maybe grasp concepts a bit quicker and put them into action,” said Taber, the final hire of recently departed former Lebanon athletic director Zac Stevenson, replaced July 1 by Mike Stone. “At the lower grades, sometimes, the things you’re going over and trying to put in place can be very basic.”
Johnstone, a longtime friend of Taber’s, is looking forward to seeing his strategies at work. Johnstone has witnessed Taber’s tactics help to transform programs at the elementary school level and has no doubt they’ll carry over to varsity play.
“He’s very even-keeled and a quintessential teacher of the game,” Johnstone said. “He was a very good player and his knowledge of the game is instinctive, but he’s also constantly trying to find new tactical developments. He does a ton of research.”
That doesn’t include watching much professional soccer — Taber noted he doesn’t keep up with the English Premier League, nor Major League Soccer — but he isn’t afraid to incorporate aspects of the systems he notices others using effectively.
While shying away from accepting credit for his lofty production at Bates — “I was the guy sending in indirect kicks and corner kicks, so the opportunity for assists were there,” he said — the former striker admits to being at least somewhat offensively minded as a coach.
As co-coaches of the New Hampshire Soccer Conference’s Lebanon Wilson Tire summer league team, Taber and Brian Garfield have been implementing a 3-5-2 formation with three central midfielders.
“I’m not the type who’s necessarily going to pack it in (on defense) and hope for a tie,” Taber said. “You could say I have a bit of an offensive mindset. As for (the 3-5-2), I’m not sure yet if that’s what we’ll be using at Lebanon. It’s going to be a matter of which things work and what the girls are comfortable with. It will be a learning process for me and for them.”
The Raiders could use a spark offensively after scoring just six goals during a 3-11-2 campaign a year ago, getting shut out their final seven games and missing the playoffs for the second straight year.
Lebanon lost four to graduation, but will return every player who scored a year ago, assuming they each elect to return. That list includes sophomore Zoe Soule (three goals, three assists) and senior Izzy Harriman, junior Shelby Hanks and sophomore Anna Wolke, who had a goal apiece in 2015.
“Last year was a really young team, but very athletic,” Taber said. “There is a lot of talent coming back.”
Taber hopes to help the Raiders surge back into contention — under Boisvert, they reached the quarterfinals or further seven times and won the NHIAA Division II title in 2010 — but he’s mainly interested in helping his players enjoy the game.
“I said this to (Stevenson) during the interview: I want the girls to look back at their high school days and have a positive attitude toward their experience playing soccer,” Taber said.
“I want them to still love soccer when they’re done. That’s really the most important thing.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.