THETFORD — Bob Bristol expected to be in Europe right now.

After 35 years as a soccer coach, history teacher, dean and athletic director in Washington state, Bristol and his wife, a Dartmouth College alumna, moved to the Upper Valley in May expecting to retire. But after finding a dog-sitter right next to Thetford Academy, Bristol became intrigued by the local school scene.

His wife, Tracy Bennett, encouraged him to look for open coaching positions in the area, and sure enough, Thetford had a vacancy for the head varsity boys soccer coach after the departure of Ray Thorburn. Bristol threw his hat in the ring, willing to postpone the couple’s plans for a long walking trip in Spain and Italy this fall.

“I’ve always loved coaching,” Bristol said. “Instead of having to teach all day and then coach, I spend all my day thinking about coaching.”

Bristol grew up in New Jersey, went to prep school in Connecticut and spent his first two years of college at Hamilton College in upstate New York but finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon and went to graduate school at the University of Washington. He remained in the Seattle area, working in various roles at The Overlake School and taking over the boys soccer team in 1989.

At Overlake, Bristol also coached basketball and both boys and girls lacrosse, but soccer was his primary passion. At a school without a strong athletic culture, his teams won three state championships before he stepped away from coaching to focus on teaching in 2017. In 2020, Bristol was inducted into Overlake’s athletic hall of fame.

Bennett, who had been the head of Seattle Waldorf School for nine years, and Bristol were both ready for retirement this year, and Bennett had yearned to return to the Hanover-Norwich area. So the couple resettled, and Bristol figured his coaching career, like his teaching career, would be over.

Bristol interviewed with then-athletic director Blendon Salls, who has since stepped down and been replaced by Bri Barnes, and Thetford dean of students Siobhan Lopez. Thetford is considerably smaller than Overlake, but much like when he began his previous job, most of the players are three-sport athletes with highly transferable skills.

“You have to be more patient in some of the things you do,” Bristol said. “These guys don’t play year-round; they’re learning a lot in a very short window of time. I brought in some new things that some of the kids were new to.”

The program Bristol inherited had not experienced a winning season in four years under Thorburn, and a first-round victory over Randolph last year was the Panthers’ lone postseason win in that span. Thetford does have five seniors, including leading scorers Jacob Gilman and Aidan Keane, but a roster of just 15 does not leave much room for substitutes and injury replacements.

Thursday’s rematch with Randolph, a 3-1 Panthers loss that dropped them to 3-4-2, was the first game they played in two weeks with a complete squad. Gilman, who leads Thetford with eight goals, even filled in at goalkeeper for junior starter Justin Robinson against North Country on Sept. 24 and had a clean sheet in a scoreless draw.

“They continue to get better every game and every practice,” Barnes said. “As long as we can keep them all healthy, they’ll be fun to watch into the playoffs.”

Bristol’s learning curve, despite his experience, has been steep — his players and assistant coach Enrique Polletta, the father of freshman midfielder Wyatt Polletta, have been educating him about the teams on Thetford’s schedule.

Bennett has also found new work in the Upper Valley in educational consulting, so both she and Bristol are staying busy. Finding coaches at local high schools has not been easy in recent years, so Barnes is hopeful that Bristol will stick around for at least a few more seasons.

“He’s excited. He’s having a good time,” Barnes said. “The players really respect him and appreciate his love for the game.”

Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.

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