AHOSKIE – A familiar face will be leaving the sidelines at the end of the current campaign.

Dave Rowzie, the spirited, veteran skipper of Ridgecroft’s varsity boys’ basketball team, has announced he will not return to the school after this season.

&uot;It’s one of those things that I just feel I need to be closer to home,&uot; Rowzie said. &uot;I’ve been there for 12 years and coached 10 of those years. It’s a sad thing, but I want to be home more.&uot;

Rowzie, who resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been making the commute as long as he feels he can. He will leave behind a record that includes a pair of Tarheel Independent Conference (TIC) titles, one TIC tourney title and four trips to the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association tournament.

&uot;Dave has been an integral part of the athletic program at Ridgecroft,&uot; Rams’ Athletic Director Doug Cobbs said. &uot;We certainly don’t want to see him go.

&uot;This is a decision he’s making to be closer to home, but we don’t want to see him leave,&uot; Cobbs added. &uot;In addition to everything else, we’re also losing an excellent history teacher.&uot;

Rowzie said he felt like he had built the basketball program to be one that people in the TIC knew they had to be ready for, especially if they were playing on their home floor.

&uot;I think we’ve got the type of program where, if you’re coming to Ridgecroft, you better be ready,&uot; he said.

The coach said he was appreciative of the support he received from Cobbs and the administration at the school and that he was &uot;grateful for the opportunity&uot; he’d been given there.

During his dozen years at the school, Rowzie coached boys’ basketball, boys’ soccer, golf and girls soccer.

It is coaching those young people that the coach said he will miss most.

&uot;There have been a lot of nice kids come through the program over the years,&uot; he said. &uot;It has been a lot of fun.&uot;

The coach said he has no definite plans, but will likely teach in a school in the Virginia area and may coach at least one sport.