EAST PROVIDENCE — Now that the kerfuffle surrounding his position as a city employee and a coach in the district has been resolved, a very enthusiastic Tony Vieira will be back on the sidelines this fall for his seventh season as the leader of the East Providence High School boys' soccer program.

Vieira, who was the Townies head coach from 2009-2014, took last season off after then city manager Paul Lemont deemed he could not use personal time from his day job with the East Providence Parks and Recreation Department as a means of coaching at the high school.

With the change in city manager last fall to Richard Kirby in concert with the city workers union, the conundrum was rectified. Vieira and Kevin Croke, who also doubled as the EPHS hockey coach and a city engineer, would once again be allowed to coach by using their accrued time. However, while that determination was made before the start of last winter's hockey campaign, it wasn't done prior to the boys' soccer season. Raunisio Oliveira served as E.P.'s coach in 2015, leading the Townies to a 4-6-4 record and a berth in the Division I playoffs where they lost, 5-4, to Central on penalty kicks in the opening round.

"The city, obviously, last year with Kevin and myself, they figured that part out. They were able to rectify the situation between the city and Kevin and me, so it allowed me to come back. Obviously, it was a little too late for me being a coach of a fall sport to come back last year. It worked out for Kevin being a winter sport. But that was the driving aspect of me coming back. Everybody has signed off on it. I have the support of my union and the city manager," Vieira said.

He continued, "I'm excited to be back. We have the new field this year, which adds some excitement in terms of the games and the training. The group looks pretty good. I'm not going to lie. We have a good group. I don't know what the rest of the state has coming back, being away from it for a year. But I expect us to be where we typically are, which is middle of the pack. Hopefully we can make a run a little bit deeper in the playoffs."

Kept off the Townie sidelines a year ago, Vieira spent last fall instead as an assistant coach with the Providence College women's team, where he picked up a thing or two that should help him in his return to the high school ranks. He was also instrumental as part of the Bayside F.C. management team in getting the organization's new turf field built on the high school property over the last year. Aside from the EPHS program, Vieira serves as a Bayside vice president and coach of its 2001 (birth year) boys' team.

"I think the biggest thing I got from being at Providence was program management," Vieira explained. "There's a lot that goes on in terms of day-to-day preparation at that level. So I think I learned things on how to better utilize our time, managing the players in terms of wear and tear on their bodies.

"In terms of sports medicine there, they're top of the line, so I learned a lot about techniques of how to use players and keep them fresh during the week. In terms of what they do on the field, it's pretty much what we do. But what they do different is maintain their athletes, which is something we haven't really done at the high school level. The health and fitness aspects of the athletes and the mental side, their psyche, those were the main things I picked up from being there."

The Townies begin their 2016 Division I regular season on Friday, Sept. 8, at home at the new Bayside turf on the high school grounds against Central Falls, who will also be East Providence's Injury Fund opponent on September 1 at Pierce Stadium. The Townies will also compete in the annual Barrington Jamboree Saturday, Aug. 27. Pre-season practice starts Monday, Aug. 22, at the high school at 8 a.m. Any new or returning players wishing to tryout for the team should be in attendance.

"Based on summer work things are good," Vieira added. "We've had roughly 40 or 50 guys here each week. We'll have the tryout process, make some cuts where we'll get or numbers down to around 36 to 40 kids split between varsity and JV. We're looking to add a freshmen program. With the middle schools back in action now I think it's something we can sustain. I believe we have like 12 freshmen that have been working out with us.

"If we can add a freshmen program it will keep those guys in the mix. It allows us to carry more guys through a four-year period. So, I'm excited. With middle school sports back, where we're headed with the field and having (new E.P. athletic director) Mr. (Gregg) Amore on board I think we're headed in the right direction."