For a first-year high school coach, some days are better than others.
That’s what Cony High of Augusta field hockey coach Amy Corbett will tell you.
Corbett, one of this state’s premier field hockey players and a former member of the U.S. Field Hockey Team, the USFHA Junior National Team, and a collegiate All-Northeast Regional All-American when she played for the University of Maine, finds being on the other end of the stick both frustrating Frustrating because, as a recent college graduate who’d like to be practicing her profession – teaching social studies, she’s not.
Corbett is an all-too-typical example of what has happened to some of our best and brightest. An honor student at Maine whose chosen career is to teach, there is no position available for her. Instead, she substitutes when called.
Ron Kenoyer is the athletic director at Cony High School.
“We had a couple of good candidates” for the field hockey position, he said. “We wanted somebody young. We thought the program might need new life. We knew that Amy is people-oriented and also field hockey-oriented, which is why we offered her the position. Fortunately, she subs at the school on occasion.”
Even though she’s not on staff, the rewards are still there for Corbett.
“I really enjoy coaching,” she said. “I discovered I feel I’m giving more to the game being a coach than a player.
“I love to see the improvements. At this point, I’m not as worried about the record, but more about the improvement of the girls and their quality of play. Of course, we all wish we were winning more.”
Cony, the defending Eastern Maine Class A champion, was 6-4 and in fourth place through the Oct. 16 official standings.
“Coaching is fun,” Corbett said, “but it is frustrating too. Off the field, there’s everything else to do to get ready to coach. And getting the girls’ respect; getting them to trust you; that takes time. Respect is a big thing, and you have to work hard to earn it.”
Corbett finds this especially true in a program that has seen a succession of coaches. For some of her seniors, she’s their fourth.
Assistant coach Donna Castelli is helping make the transition from player to coach a little easier, Corbett said.
“Donna played at Plymouth (N.H.) State and was a second-team All-American in Division III,” she said of the former Maranacook of Readfield star.
“She’s a good player and she’s doing a really good job coaching the junior varsity. We’re very compatible and have a lot of the same coaching philosophies. We like things done the same way. The work she’s doing with the JVs will be a big help to the varsity in a few years.”
Next month, Amy Corbett will be married. She’s planning to go back to school. But she’s still looking for that elusive teaching position which would put her in the school with the kids she coaches.
“It’s just not the same, not being in school with them on a daily basis,” she said. “If something opened up, I’d be thrilled.”
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