Gonyar resigns at Bucksport 2-sport coach drops both jobs, cites family reasons

For 14 seasons, David Gonyar has been putting in double duty as a two-sport coach. This weekend, an idea which has been kicking around in his head for several months turned into a decision that shocked the Bucksport High School community on Monday.

Hours after his Golden Bucks lost a close game to defending champion Camden Hills in Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B championship boys basketball game, the 38-year-old University of Maine graduate and Bucksport High School physical education teacher decided to cut the cords.

He would resign his head coaching positions with Bucksport’s varsity baseball and basketball teams, effective immediately.

Monday morning, Gonyar broke the news to both teams’ players.

“I thought I was prepared for it, but when I got in there, it became very difficult,” Gonyar said. “Even though I had a hard time telling the kids today, it still feels like the right decision.”

Monday afternoon, school athletic director Tish Frazier learned of that surprising decision.

“I was shocked. I wasn’t there this morning, so I hadn’t heard about it,” Frazier said. “The first I heard was that he wasn’t going to coach baseball and then I found out it was both sports later on.”

Frazier now has three weeks to fill the yawning void left by a man who has coached the Bucks baseball team to nine straight playoff seasons, eight Eastern Maine Class B final appearances, and one Eastern Maine title in 14 seasons.

“It’s definitely going to be a loss to our school, our program, and our kids,” Frazier said. “Someone who’s been around this long and been able to build the program up to the level it was will be hard to replace, especially in a short period of time.

“He was very good with the athletes, very knowledgeable about the sport. … He had a real good way of teaching the kids and he was of high moral character.”

Gonyar, who spent 10 summer seasons as the head coach of Brewer’s American Legion baseball team, took over Bucksport’s basketball team in 1999. He has compiled a 41-19 record and led the Bucks to three straight tournament appearances in three seasons.

Gonyar cited two main reasons for resigning: family and timing.

“A couple years ago it was Legion and I gave that up to have more time in the summer, which has been great,” he said. “All of a sudden, I realized the time with the family was something I’ve been missing out on.”

Gonyar and his wife Debbie have three children: Ryan (age 8), Ben (6), and Allison (4).

“Coaching is a huge commitment. There were times when I’d come home and I’d just be very tired and I just couldn’t play with my kids,” Gonyar added. “It’s been a two- or three-year period where you start thinking about where you’re at and what you want to do, and this year during basketball, it hit me that it was time.”

Frazier, who also has a JV baseball coaching position to fill, said she knew Gonyar had contemplated resigning one position the last couple of years, but never thought he’d step down from both at the same time.

“That surprised me more than anything,” she said. “Well, the word is obviously out now, so hopefully that will help us get some applicants, but I’ll meet with our principal and assistant principal [today], put an ad in the paper this weekend, and go from there.”

Frazier said she has a few options. If no suitable long-term candidates are found, she could fill the job on an interim basis to allow for a longer search and hire someone for 2003. As far as the basketball job, she’d like to see that filled before the start of summer.