Skowhegan swimmers need coach to keep afloat

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Wanted:

One swimming coach for Skowhegan High School. Must be willing to put in long hours driving to Waterville for swim practices and meets and be into fundraising.

One more thing. You won’t know what your salary is until most of the program’s other expenses are paid for.

That’s the situation Skowhegan athletic director Jon Christopher is facing this fall as he is trying to hire a replacement for Carrie Sherberne, who coached the 30-member swim team last season but took a position at Hampden Academy this year.

It’s also the situation Skowhegan’s downhill and cross country skiing and ice hockey team have dealt with recently and golf is going through now as a first-year sport. The school committee doesn’t give money to sports that are less than two years old, Christopher said, which means parents and students make the rounds of the local businesses, raise money and give out of their own pockets.

“Pool time, referees, uniforms come first,” Christopher said. “Once you get done with that there’s only so much money left over. It’s hard to tell someone that I don’t know what’s going to be left.”

Christopher figures the parents and athletes raised $3,000 last year for the swim program and had about $1,500 left over for Sherberne’s salary.

The team uses a rehabilitation pool in the town of Skowhegan for some practices. But that pool isn’t big enough to hold meets, so the Indians make the 20-mile trip to Waterville for a larger tank.

Trouble is, Skowhegan is one of five teams with Waterville, Winslow, Erskine Academy of South China and Messalonskee of Oakland that compete for pool time.

For now, Christopher said, there is someone in-house who may coach the team this year if the school can’t find anyone. If that person decides not to coach the team, the season could be a washout.

“If we can’t find a coach to do the darn thing, I don’t see how we can have a program,” he said. “We have to find a way to get through this year.”

Thibodeau, Danielson hired

Old Town filled two positions last month with the hiring of Greg Thibodeau to coach the girls basketball team and Dave Danielson for the ice hockey squad.

Both Thibodeau and Danielson served as assistant coaches last season, Thibodeau under boys basketball coach Marty Clark and Danielson under hockey coach Gene Fadrigon.

Thibodeau replaces athletic director Garry Spencer, who left the Indians to continue work on his master’s degree. Spencer had coached the team for 14 years and to an Eastern Maine Class A runner-up title in 1998.

Spencer, whose daughter Kasey will be a sophomore on the team this year, said he’s pleased with his replacement.

“I’m impressed with Greg as an athletic director, as a former coach and as a parent,” Spencer said. “He’ll work extremely hard for this team.”

Thibodeau played for the Indians under Bob Lahey in the early 1970s. He is the Co-Op/Vocational Program Director at the high school and is the father of University of Maine guard Corey Thibodeau.

Danielson has been involved with Old Town’s youth hockey program and assisted Fadrigon last season, Spencer said.

Athletic participation at a high

High school athletic participation reached an all-time high in 1998-99, according to a National Federation of State High School Associations survey.

Based on figures from the 51 state high school athletic/activity associations that are NFHS members, including the Maine Principals’ Association, participation in high school athletics during 1998-99 was 6,504,298, an increase of 151,523 from 1997-98.

Maine ranks 35th in total participation, with 51,472 student-athletes.

Competitive spirit squads registered the largest gain in girls athletic programs. Golf showed the biggest gains among boys.

Basketball remains the most popular sport for girls, while football is the most popular sport for boys.

Survey looks into injuries

A National Athletic Trainers’ Association study released this week shows more than half of injuries to high school athletes in nine sports were found to occur during practice sessions.

The NATA survey looked at injuries in 10 popular high school sports and found an average of 55.5 percent of the reported injuries occurred during practice sessions. Only boys and girls soccer showed a larger proportion of reported injuries in games rather than practices. Football had the highest rate of injury and volleyball had the lowest.

The highest frequency of knee injuries occurred in girls soccer. Girls basketball saw the most injuries requiring surgery and the largest proportion of fractures occurred in baseball.