Kane to coach both Dirigo hoop squads

Gavin Kane has developed one of the most successful schoolgirl basketball programs in Maine history at Dirigo High of Dixfield.

Next winter, he’ll double his coaching load as he takes on the additional responsibility of coaching the school’s boys varsity team. Actually he’s already doing it – guiding both teams through summer league schedules.

“Summer basketball has gone great,” said Kane, who juggles his coaching schedule with duties as manager of the Wilson Lake Country Club in Wilton, where he works from April 1 to mid-November. “I’ve only had one night where there was a conflict.

“The only tough thing about the summer is that I work 65 hours a week and go immediately to a game every day from work. My day starts at 5:30 a.m. and ends somewhere between 9 and 10 at night. To be honest, I believe the winter schedule will be easier then what I’m doing right now.”

Coaching a boys basketball team won’t be new to Kane, who guided Rangeley High for nine years beginning in the 1984-1985 season. During that tenure, the Mt. Blue of Farmington graduate led the Lakers to eight Western Maine tournament appearances and the 1989 Class D state championship.

Kane has been at Dirigo for the last 11 years, leading the Cougars to a state-record 11 consecutive Western Maine championships, 11 Mountain Valley Conference titles and six Class C state championships – including a last-second 44-42 victory over Dexter that secured the 2005 crown.

The Dirigo girls currently are riding a 128-game regular-season unbeaten streak, and Kane has compiled an overall coaching record of 340-79, including 228-11 at Dirigo.

Kane takes over the boys coaching duties from Don Hebert, who resigned after last season. The Dirigo boys finished 7-12, losing to Jay in the Western C preliminary round.

“Actually the possibility of coaching both the boys and girls teams was brought up about four years ago when the boys position had opened up once again,” Kane said. “I was asked then about possibly overseeing both programs and at that time it just never materialized as several applicants applied for the boys coaching job.

“Our superintendent was made aware that I had considered the idea in the past, and when the job opened up again this spring, we sat down and discussed how we could make this work. The combination of having had some interest in coaching boys again, and the fact they have not had anyone really commit to them [Dirigo has had six boys coaches in last 11 years] spurred me on to apply.”

Since he will be on winter hiatus from his Wilson Lake job and since the Dirigo boys and girls teams typically play on different nights, Kane expects to be able to attend all the games and practices for both teams.

He also will benefit from a corps of veteran assistant coaches, including Rebecca Fletcher and Matt Clark on the girls side and brother Mike Kane – who has coached at the high school and college levels – on the boys side.

“I have quality people working with me, which is another reason we feel we can make this happen,” Kane said.

Kane said the biggest challenges may be dealing with the winter weather and the possibility of game postponements, and finding the time to personally scout opposing teams.

“I’m not concerned though about spreading myself too thin,” he said. “I have a bundle of energy and can’t think of any place I would rather be in the wintertime than in a gym.

“There are some people out there who doubt that I can make this work out. I actually don’t mind hearing that because I love to prove people wrong, and I love a great challenge. This will be a tremendous challenge and I’m very much looking forward to it.”