GROVE CITY — Eleven years ago, Chris Burtch stepped away from coaching at the age of 35.

Burtch had prowled the bench as the boys basketball coach at Slippery Rock High for five years, 74 wins, four District 10 playoff berths and two PIAA appearances.

But with three young girls at home, the strong call to spend more time with them and his wife, Chrissy, and a feeling that he needed to recharge, Burtch stepped away in 2004.

“I don’t think the desire, the excitement to coach really ever left me,” Burtch said. “It was just a situation where my tank was empty.”

His tank is full again.

Burtch was hired as the Grove City High girls basketball coach at a school board meeting June 15.

The next morning, he was putting his new team through its paces at an open gym.

Burtch takes over for T.L. Eller, who spent nine years and eight seasons as the Eagles’ coach. Eller took one season off to care for herself during her pregnancy in 2012-13.

Burtch is very familiar with the Grove City girls basketball program. He coached the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade girls basketball teams at the school, including many of the current crop of players on the Eagles’ roster.

For the past decade, he was also a color analyst for radio broadcasts of basketball games — as well as football games — for Cumulus Media stations Sports Radio 96.7 FM and WPIC 790 AM.

“Not only was it an incredibly enjoyable thing being a part of the radio broadcasts for 11 years, but it was incredibly valuable in keeping up with the game,” Burtch said. “No doubt when the season comes around, there are a lot of things I’ll be aware of that maybe I wasn’t when I was 35. My perspective has changed dramatically.”

Now 46, Burtch chalks up some of that perspective change to the maturity that comes with getting older.

Some of it, though, has to do with being able to watch from the sidelines for so long as an analyst.

“Believe me, I took notes,” Burtch said. “It was a valuable tool. I saw some incredible coaching and some incredible teams over the years.”

Burtch will square off against many of them in the extremely competitive Region 5-AAA as well as the rest of the loaded District 10.

Grove City has had success over the years under Eller and returns twin guards/forwards Alexis Deyarmin and Brenna Deyarmin to a team that should again challenge for a playoff spot.

One of Burtch’s main obstacles, however, will be staring him in the face every day.

Slippery Rock, which didn’t have a senior on the roster last season and returns injured stars Marissa Siebka and Sedona Campbell to an already talented group, will be one of the favorites — along with Hickory and much-improved Oil City — to capture the region title.

Burtch will start his 22nd year of teaching ninth-grade Modern American History and 11th-grade AP United States History at Slippery Rock.

Many of the players on the Rockets’ roster either had Burtch as a teacher or will be in one of Burtch’s history classes this year.

He also played in high school for current Rockets’ girls basketball coach John Tabisz.

“It’s a very unique situation and not the most comfortable situation in the world to be perfectly honest with you,” Burtch said.

Come the day Grove City and Slippery Rock play, though, Burtch said basketball will trump all.

“It’s a basketball game featuring two good teams with similar goals and two really good friends,” Burtch said.

Burtch’s eldest daughter, Anna, will be a senior this school year. She played basketball through her sophomore season, but did not play last year.

Burtch’s middle daughter, Lily, will be a freshman and is a member of the basketball program.

His youngest, Mary, is in sixth grade.

Burtch said he doesn’t know if Anna will play this season and that his daughters did not impact his decision to apply for the Grove City job.

“I think it’s worth saying that even if neither one of them play, this job was perfect in terms of the logistical stuff,” Burtch said. “There were opportunities in the past and some of them I even turned in paperwork, but when it came right down to it, were just not right for me at the time. When this job opened up, there were none of those logistical things to get in the way.”