Born in San Pedro, California, Rich graduated from Rolling Hills High School where he lettered in basketball and baseball while playing for the legendary coach Mike Gillespie whom Rich considers his mentor. He played college baseball at California State University at Long Beach (BA in English and Speech Communications). He earned his Masters of Education from Pepperdine University. In the summer of 1966, Rich, age 16, was hired by the City of Rolling Hills Estates, California, to be a recreation director for Dapplegray Intermediate School. There he formed “Belcher’s
Bombers,” a coed softball team of eight to 12 year olds, and his coaching career began.
Coach Belcher achieved success as a basketball coach in California and Washington for a total of 27 years. His teams compiled an impressive 414-284 won/loss record while qualifying for the 4A State playoffs 10 times. Rich was selected conference Coach of the Year nine times and State Coach of the Year two times. In 1984, Rich was honored as the California State John Wooden Award at the same event Michael Jordan received the best college player award. In addition to his high school coaching, Coach Belcher was the USA Olympic Development coach for six years. Coach Belcher has directed many of the most successful high school and youth camps for over 40 years. He received the Sports Media “Coaches Who Make a Difference Award” from King 5 television in 2003 and the Washington State Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tacoma Dome in 2007. He has been an English and Government teacher for 38 years, and selected “Who’s Who of American Teachers” 14 times, “Educator of the Year” two times and “Role Model of the Year” twice. The Seattle Times recognized him as “Washington State Class Act Teacher of the Year” in 1991. In 2011, Newport High School selected him “Coaching Legend.” Of all the records Coach Belcher and his teams have achieved, he is most proud of the 23 teams that qualified for a State Academic Award. He is truly a teacher on and off the court. His teams traveled many times during the winter to compete in some of the USA’s top high school tournaments. Some of the destinations included Florida, North Carolina, Hawaii, California and Arizona. While in North Carolina (three times), his teams practiced on the court at Duke University’s famed Cameron Indoor Stadium and UNC’s Dean Dome. In California, the team practiced at Pawley Pavilion.
For the past 45 years, Rich has been blessed by the influences of many people. His friends, coaches, players and their families, students, staff members and most of all his family have provided him the opportunity to enjoy a very rewarding career in athletics and teaching. As he has said on many occasions, “the records will be buried in a book one day, but the relationships will last a lifetime…all of us are as good as the people who surround us.” Rich is very proud of the special friendships he developed with his players during and after their basketball careers. Coach Belcher’s favorite poem, “The Man in the Glass” is the foundation of his life.
Not only has basketball offered many professional highlights, but it has provided Coach B with many personal highlights, too. While coaching in California, Rich met one of his player’s sisters at a summer league game and two years later they were married. Rich and Jill have been married for 30 years. The other personal highlight for Rich was the opportunity to coach both his sons, Mitchell, 27, and Brian, 24, at Eastlake High School. Both sons are college graduates, Mitchell from Western Washington University and Brian from Santa Clara University. Rich is blessed with four shinning stars which glow brightly above him: his parents, Vern and Alice, and his in-laws, Stan and Marilyn.
