Fogarty to coach Houlton hoop Ex-Sanford star eager for season

Mike Fogarty already has a busy life, but it’s about to get busier.

Fogarty, chief executive officer of Pines Health Services, a multi-specialty physicians’ practice based in Caribou with 33 providers serving central Aroostook County, is the new boys varsity basketball coach at Houlton High School.

And while the high school basketball season officially doesn’t start until late November, Fogarty and the Shiretowners have a busy summer planned, with 22 games scheduled as well as a weeklong camp in late July for local third-graders through high school freshmen.

“With any program, you have to make sure you have a good feeder system,” said Fogarty.

Fogarty, who lives in Houlton with his wife Trisha, a Houlton schoolteacher, and 12-year-old daughter Amanda, who will be a seventh-grader in the fall, has an extensive basketball resume.

A standout guard at Sanford for Bob MacKinnon during his high school days, Fogarty went on to play guard at the University of Maine at Farmington in the early 1980s under Len MacPhee.

His coaching background includes a stint as an assistant coach at Boothbay Region High School in the early 1990s, followed by two years as a volunteer assistant under current Houlton principal Marty Bouchard at Hodgdon – a stint that included a run to the 1996 Class C state championship.

Fogarty left coaching to focus on his family and work at Pines Health Services, but he helped coach a local AAU boys basketball team two years ago, and the itch returned.

Last year Fogarty coached the Houlton boys junior varsity, leading that team to a 10-8 record.

When Sean Callahan stepped down from the varsity post this spring after four years, Fogarty consulted with his family and the board of directors at Pines Health Services before pursuing the job.

“I knew I was going to get back into coaching some day, but I didn’t know when,” said Fogarty. “When I did get back into it, I’d come home from a game or a practice and my wife would see the smile on my face. She knows how much I love doing it.”

Callahan compiled a 47-32 record during his tenure, including a 20-2 mark in 2004 when he guided the Mark Socoby-led Shiretowners to the Class C state championship – the first gold ball in the program’s history.

Houlton rebounded from an 0-7 start last winter to finish 7-11 and earn an Eastern C preliminary round berth.

Just three seniors graduated from that team, and nine players – including several Fogarty coached on that earlier AAU team – will be back next season.

“I’ve learned over the years that defense wins ballgames,” he said, “and the kids have bought into that defensive philosophy the last few years.”

Fogarty already has planned out a preseason trip to southern Maine during Thanksgiving vacation to play games against Sanford, Wells and Kennebunk.

“It’s mostly a team-building exercise,” he said, “but it’s also a good chance to play against a little different competition.”