Oxford Hills players drop a covering to reveal the sign on the newly-dedicated Goddard-Daniels Softball Field before a Class A North quarterfinal against Bangor on Thursday in South Paris. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)
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PARIS — How do you thank a pair of coaches for a combined seven decades of service?
It’s almost an impossible question to answer. You do your best, remembering that nobody gives that much of their time for accolades. If you coach that long, it’s because it’s about more than receiving a pat on the back.
As the high school softball playoffs begin this week, Cindy Goddard approaches the end of her 36th and final season as head coach at Oxford Hills. Danny Daniels, Goddard’s longtime assistant coach, has been with the Vikings almost as long, joining the staff as freshman coach in 1993, then the varsity in 2000.
This is the final season for both Goddard and Daniels. They decided to retire together.
“At a certain time, there does have to be an end point,” Goddard said Thursday following her team’s 4-0 playoff win over Bangor.
They wanted to leave the program in a good place, Daniels said. Whoever the next coach is will inherit a talented team and a strong feeder system in Oxford Hills’ youth softball program.
“Neither wants to coach with anyone else,” said Janice Taylor, Dan’s daughter, who was the public address announcer for Thursday afternoon’s Class A North quarterfinal against Bangor.
Before the game, the softball field at the Gouin Athletic Complex was dedicated in honor of Goddard and Daniels, the coaches who have been there for all the Vikings’ big moments. They coached Oxford Hills to state championships in 1998 and 1999, as well as four other regional titles, most recently in 2024.
The idea to name the field after Goddard and Daniels came from senior left fielder Emma Cooper.
“They’ve been doing it a really long time,” Cooper said. “It shows how much we appreciate them.”
Kyeria Morse is the Vikings’ standout pitcher, and her two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning set the tone for Thursday’s quarterfinal win. When she speaks of Goddard and Daniels, it’s with a reverence reserved for only the most influential people in a young person’s life.
“They’ve shown me I can do more than what I thought I could do,” Morse said. “They’ve shown me how to be a good person, and how to strive for that.”
Jessie Becher-Brooks was a member of the two Oxford Hills softball teams that won state titles in 1998 and 1999. She coached the junior varsity team under Goddard and Daniels.
“When I think of softball, I think of those two,” Becher-Brooks said. “My own dad coached me, and I think of those two.”
Goddard and Daniels worked well together because they balanced each other, Becher-Brooks said. Goddard was the strict head coach, demanding the best effort from every player, every game. Daniels was everybody’s grandfather.
Ashley Rolfe graduated from Oxford Hills in 2004, and played softball for Goodard and Daniels. Her daughter, Karol Rolfe, is a sophomore first baseman on this year’s team.
“They taught me work ethic,” Rolfe said.
Kim Kangas-Smith was a senior captain on the 1998 state championship team. That was the first season the Vikings played on this field. She’s coached freshmen and junior varsity at her alma mater for 13 seasons.
“They know what each other is thinking,” Kangas-Smith said.
Having the field named in their honor is a reflection not just of them, but of the community’s support of the team, Goddard and Daniels said. Daniels pointed at all the advertisements lining the outfield wall from foul pole to foul pole as proof. The Oxford Hills softball program wasn’t created in a vacuum.
The players coming in know they’re expected to work hard and show dedication to the team, and that won’t change under a new coach, Goddard said. Beyond the fact that the Vikings graduate just four seniors, there’s that entrenched feeder program.
The field now bears the name of its two influential coaches. The program will carry their fingerprints for a long time.
