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They wear many hats.
They are responsible for such things as scheduling, field preparation, security, discipline, hiring and firing.
They probably see more than 100 games per school year.
They are high school athletic directors.
Five Eastern Maine athletic directors were asked to list the most rewarding and enjoyable part of their job and the most difficult and unpleasant aspect.
Dave Clement, Foxcroft Academy: “The best part is the relationships you develop with the kids, coaches, parents and administrators at other schools. There’s a number of different frustrations. In the winter, you have the weather concerns. Making the call of whether they go [to a game] or not isn’t always easy. Anything can happen and you shoulder some of the responsibility. We always contact the DOT [Department of Transportation] and we work hand-in-hand with the bus company we contract with [Rowell’s]. We discuss the weather and what it is going to be like where we’re going and try to make an intelligent decision from there. You never know if you’ve made the right call. But if we error, we always error on the side of safety.”
Dwight Hunter, Caribou: “The most rewarding part is watching the kids perform and seeing their progress in a particular sport over a season. The toughest part is dealing with the negativism from parents and handling those situations. Today, everybody wants to be involved. That’s great if it’s in a positive way. If it’s in a negative way, it’s difficult for me as an AD and for our coaches. We need to let our coaches be educators and teachers and have parents as support people. Interscholastic sports are meant to be an educational experience and a positive experience.”
Larry Hallowell, Washburn: “The toughest thing I’ve ever had to deal with is when a discipline problem forces you to suspend a ballplayer from a team for a length of time. Making it more difficult is that you tend to get really close to them. As for the best part, I enjoy the whole thing. Even though you can’t play any more, you can watch and be involved as much as the kids. I’m such a competitor, I love it anyway.”
Tommy Lynch, Calais: “The toughest part is removing a student from a sport for any reason. I really believe there are so many positives to be gained from playing sports like teamwork and interpersonal skills. You also know how much they enjoy what they’re doing. Looking into their eyes and telling them they can’t play any more due to academic or disciplinary reasons is the hardest thing to do. The most gratifying thing is watching a child grow over a period of time: watching them progress emotionally and athletically and seeing the smile on their faces after they succeeded at something.”
Dale Curry, Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln: “The best part is still being around sports and getting to see not only our kids, but seeing good athletes from other schools play. Along with that, I still enjoy being involved with people who have been involved in sports in this part of the state forever. I enjoy going to the AD meetings. There are 31 PVC [Penobscot Valley Conference] schools now. That’s a good thing. The most difficult part is trying to run a program people want to be of a high quality on a budget that doesn’t allow them to be funded fully.”
Swift may get coaching job
Former University of Maine All-American and major league pitcher Billy Swift may be coaching baseball.
“I’ve been offered a job coaching the eighth-grade boys at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Christian Academy,” said South Portland’s Swift, who is looking forward to the challenge but admits he is “nervous” about it.
Since being released by the Seattle Mariners two years ago and retiring, the man who was 94-78 with 27 saves and a 3.95 earned run average during his 403-game career has been making up for lost time with his family (wife Michelle and daughters Aubrey, MacKenzie and Brynlie).
“I helped out coaching [9-year-old] MacKenzie’s soccer team,” said Swift, who had never played the sport. “I like it. Ball control and staying in your position are important.
“We took the team to see the U.S. women play China in Phoenix recently and it was a lot of fun. I thought it would be slow but there was a lot of action. There were a lot of injuries. Girls were going up in the air for headers and flipping over,” said Swift who noted that all of the girls on MacKenzie’s team know who [U.S. star] Mia Hamm is.
Swift has a 6-handicap in golf and plays once a week. He will play three times a week during summer vacation in Oregon. He was a 2-handicap at one point.
He drives in his daughters’ carpools and was contacted by San Francisco manager Dusty Baker about coaching in the Giants system.
Baker managed him when he won 21 games and was the National League’s Cy Young Award runnerup in 1993.
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