BIDDEFORD — After three seasons, the Biddeford girls soccer coach has decided to resign, a decision he said was “very” difficult.

Dan Letellier made the announcement a few weeks ago to Biddeford Athletics Director Dennis Walton.

“He has left our program in good standing,” Walton said. “It’s difficult to see him step down, but he allows us to continue growing as a program.”

Letellier is also the coach of the University of New England softball team, and that, Letellier said, lead to his decision because it didn’t allow him to give his soccer team the attention it deserved.

“I just felt that if I couldn’t give them 100 percent of my time that would not be fair to them,” Letellier said. “I have asked a lot of these girls the past three years and they have met or exceeded everything that was asked of them.”

Biddeford is in the advertising phase for a new coach, Walton said. The school hopes to have a coach in place by spring. This will allow a new coach time to establish clinics and fully prepare for the 2010 season.

Letellier was one of Walton’s first hires when Walton took over for long-time Biddeford AD Don Wilson, four years ago.

While Biddeford hasn’t had a winning record, its success under Letellier was measured in various ways, Walton said.

“He’s really helped make the program competitive,” he said. “It used to be that our soccer team would give up seven or eight goals a game and get shutout. Now, teams can no longer circle Biddeford as a win and I think he has opened the door for the next coach to be very successful.”

Letellier agrees that the program has improved and grown.

“The greatest thing about coaching is not the wins and losses, it’s the pride, respect and growth that you get to see in teh girls that go through the system.,” Letellier said. “It’s the friendships and relationships that you make that carries on for many years. I will miss each an every one of the girls, but I won’t go into hiding as a I have two daughters at (Biddeford) High School playing soccer, so I will just be further from the sidelines when I’m barking at the officials. No, I’m just kidding about the last one.”

Goal scoring aplenty in York County

While the hockey season is young, several York County players have shown a knack for finding the back of the net.

In Sanford, Aaron Rivard (See athlete spotlight, page B2) netted five goals and had two assists in the Redskins’ 8-3 rout of Windham on Saturday.

Rivard scored four goals in the first perod and one more in the second period.

Not to be outdone was Biddeford’s Trevor Fleurent. During Saturdays’ Fix Cup title game against Falmouth, in which the Tigers won 6-1, Fleurent scored three goals and had two assists. On Wednesday, in a win against Deering, Fleurent netted another two goals for the 3-0 Tigers, which won the Class A State title in 2007.

On the girls side, Biddeford’s Sara Grover scored five goals on Wednesday in the Tigers’ 7-4 win against Portland. That’s nothing new for prolific scorer who is averaging more than four goals per game in Biddeford’s first six games. The Tigers are currently 4-2.

Basketball is also about rebounding

In Old Orchard Beach, Annabelle Frenette and Gillian Foss have shown that rebounding can be just as important than scoring.

In a Dec. 8 win against Buckfield, Foss ripped down 30 rebounds for the Seagulls. Not to be out done, Frenette, in a 48-47 win against Traip, grabbed 21 boards. Oh yeah, both are averaging more than 14 points per game for the 31 Old Orchard Beach squad.

OK, Basketball is about scoring, too

Biddeford’s Keila Grigware had back-to-back games scoring 31 points for the undefeated Tigers. Her first game came over the weekend in a 50-27 win against Sanford. She did it again on Tuesday in a 64-42 win against Windham. She also had 14 rebounds in that game.

Recruiting update

The University of Maine swim team Wednesday announced that it had signed four swimmers to its Division I program. One of those swimmers was Saco standout Emily Puleio.

Puleio will be competing in the sprint competitions for the Black Bears. UMaine also signed Kara Capossela from Riverside, Conn., Ashley Higgins of Bangor and Shannon Bender from Lincoln, R.I.

Al Edwards’ High School Notebook appears every Friday in the Journal Tribune. Contact him at aedwards@journaltribune.com, or 282-1535, ext. 317.