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Dennis Harmon has a few words of advice for anyone aspiring to be a high school athletic director.
“Anybody who is going to do this has to have great enthusiasm for what they’re doing,” he said. “You’re going to have to put in a lot of time, because there are a lot of things to do and a lot of them aren’t included in the job description. “It takes your weekends, your vacations, it takes your summers.
“But you do it because it’s best for the kids, best for your school and best for the program.”
Harmon bases that advice on his own experiences as athletic director at Sumner High School in East Sullivan, a post from which he retired recently after 22 years.
“It’s time to do something else,” said Harmon, who will be replaced by former Old Town AD Matt Haney. “I guess I’m just a little tired.”
A 57-year-old native of Standish, Harmon graduated from Buxton’s Bonny Eagle High School and then attended a small college in Iowa.
Upon his return to Maine after graduation, he landed a job at Sumner.
That was 35 years ago.
Since then he’s taught physical education and coached cross country, basketball, softball and soccer – in fact, he started the soccer program at Sumner in 1972
In 1981, he added athletic director to his resume.
The ensuing two decades have brought great change to that position, not just at Sumner but schools throughout Maine.
“There’s a lot more of a time commitment than there used to be,” Harmon said. “Between taking care of all the athletic fields, dealing with parental issues and hiring coaches, it just takes a lot of time.”
Harmon says finding qualified coaches willing to accept all the challenges inherent in that job is one of the biggest issues facing today’s athletic directors.
“It’s just become a lot harder to hire coaches these days,” he said. “Coaches are under the microscope. They’re under a lot of pressure and a lot of them don’t want to do it anymore.”
While the job of athletic director has grown more complex, Harmon reflects on his tenure as one with many fond memories.
“One of the big things has been the improvement of our facilities, and the growth of our programs, the additional programs we have here now,” said Harmon, who served as athletic director on a part-time basis for the last six years.
“When I started here we didn’t have anywhere to play, but we’ve got some facilities now that are as good as any around when you talk about our soccer field and baseball field.”
“Another thing has been meeting other people throughout the state, seeing some of the problems other schools have and working together to make them better.”
Harmon also recently ended his terms on the Maine Principals’ Association Classification Committee and Eastern Maine Classes B, C and D Basketball Committee.
But he’s not leaving the Maine sports scene altogether.
Harmon plans to step up an already busy officiating schedule, working high school soccer, basketball, baseball and softball games throughout the region.
“It keeps me involved,” he said.
As for any newly available free time he’ll have when he’s not officiating, Harmon is content to enjoy life with his wife of 34 years, Pam, an art teacher at Sumner, and to devote a little more time to some lifelong hobbies.
“Right now I don’t have any plans,” he said, “just hunt, fish and enjoy the wilds of Maine.”
For Haney, an Orland native and graduate of George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill and the University of Maine, the chance to succeed Harmon is the opportunity to return to a small-school setting.
“I kind of wanted to get back to a smaller school, as well as the chance to focus on athletics,” said Haney, who also served as director of student activities at Old Town.
“And it’s closer to where I grew up.”
Haney’s full-time position will involve AD duties at Sumner as well as the four K-8 schools in School Union 96, including running the intramural program.
Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net
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