It may not have been the best season to finish off his career, but Saturday John Richard would coach his final home game as the UNB women’s volleyball team head coach.
 
Starting in 1998 at UNB, Richard would lead the Varsity Reds to two AUS titles and help bring the CIS national championship to Fredericton.
 
Prior to Saturday’s game against UdeM he was honoured with a framed volleyball jersey and after the match a video compiling his time spent with the team was played on the video screens at the Currie Center.
 
“It’s pretty special,” said Richard. “You forget how long you’ve been here and all the girls that have played for you and all the good things they’ve gone on and done. You look up there (video screens) and see a lot of pictures and you go through a challenging year like we’re having this year and you look back and realize you took some of those times for granted (being in AUS final four of the last five years and playing in three of the last four national championships).”
 
Starting as a student-athlete at UNB, Richard played and coached in the Lady Beaverbrook Gym until this season when the Varsity Reds moved into the Richard J. Currie Center.
 
“It’s pretty special. Last night we had about 800 people here (for the men’s basketball game). The old gym held about 700 so we’re getting big crowds and have big community support. That can only speak positively to the future (of the program).”
 
Although Richard was able to look back at many great memories as a coach, UdeM would take the victory from him in his final game at home, winning the match 3-1.
 
“I thought we started well, but I thought we had a let down in the first set as well,” he said. “They made some mistakes on some key plays are we were able to get out of it, but in the second, third and fourth game we went to sleep for five minutes or so. Again it’s characteristic of a young team. You can’t take a point off.”
 
“It was more in the middle of every set where we went in a funk and they went on a five or six point run and then we’d come back. It’s just keeping foot on the gas and knowing you can’t take a point off.”
 
The Varsity Reds women’s volleyball team currently sit in last place in the AUS and have two games remaining in the regular season.