UMPI’s Arman resigns softball post

Sixteen springs have come and gone. Sixteen springs in which Alan Arman coached either softball, baseball, or tennis.

“I realized in the middle of the season I was tired,” the University-Maine Presque Isle softball coach said. “Not tired of the kids, just tired. There are no other coaching opportunities I want right now.”

What Arman does want is time to spend with his family, which is the main reason he has resigned as the UMPI coach. Next spring he’ll be home, not on the road.

“I might decide, in a year or two, that I have too much time off,” he said. “But for now, I just didn’t look forward to the trips. I want to get out before it becomes a drudge to me and the kids and it wasn’t quite that to me or the kids this year.”

Arman has coached the Lady Owls for two years. His first year the team was 3-8 and it improved to 6-10 this season. Arman will remain as director of residential life at UMPI.

Arman is a realist who understands what spring is all about up in The County.

“The real reason I resigned is I want to be with my family, but the other reason is that it gets really frustrating,” he said of trying to coach a sport under less-than-ideal spring conditions.

“We’re in a bad position up here,” he said. “Kids who want to play softball want to play 40 games, not 11 or 16. What we have are kids who come up to play soccer or basketball, who are also very good softball players, but because of the weather, it’s really tough to develop the talent.”

Building a program “that is really competitive in the state of Maine” is difficult, Arman added.

“We just can’t play enough games. We can’t play enough to be good. We can sneak in a win here or there, but to be good you’ve got to play,” he said.

Arman said he jokingly told UMPI Athletic Director Royal Goheen that what it would take to develop strong spring programs at UMPI would be a domed stadium.

“I don’t think they should have to settle for mediocrity, especially a physical education school that operates in northern Maine,” he said. “But you have to be realistic enough to know that we have to adapt our sporting opportunities to the weather. You go on a spring trip and then you’re right back inside. You’ve lost the advantage of that spring trip when you go back to the gym floor and the cage.”

Reflecting on his tenure with the softball team, however, Arman is enthusiastic.

“The kids have been fabulous,” he said. “I never coached women before. They’re extremely coachable. They don’t think they know everything. They will listen to you. I had the best time. I never had a discipline problem, never a worry. I knew they went to class, and knew they worked on their grades. I had four or five who were over a 3.0 (B average).”

Although he has resigned, Arman might not be completely out of the game next spring.

“I’ve offered to be the pitching coach if I’m needed,” he said. “But I won’t have to travel.” –

Two sophomores from Caribou were UMPI’s top batters this season – Lynn Hartley, .384 and Beth Corrow, .340. Hartley, the team’s pitcher, had a 6-10 record. Corrow played center field.

Freshman second baseman Pam McLaughlin of East Corinth was the third leading hitter at .291, followed by sophomore third baseman Robin Blackstone of Presque Isle at .282.

Three seniors left the team this year via graduation: catcher Terri Cameron, Island Falls; left fielder Dana Schroppe, Watchung, N.J.; and right fielder Dedra Webb, Fort Fairfield.