Sinclair reclaims MA boys basketball post

The new boys basketball coach at Mattanawcook Academy is the old basketball coach.

Rick Sinclair had stepped down from the post earlier this spring citing family reasons, but was reappointed as the Lynx head coach last week, according to MA principal Jim Boothby.

Sinclair was one of two varsity basketball coaches approved during the most recent SAD 67 board of directors meeting. Brian McDormand, who last winter coached the first-year Lee Academy postgraduate men’s basketball team, is MA’s new girls head coach. He replaces veteran coach Terri Thornton, who stepped down after last season.

When Sinclair – who also serves as the school’s athletic director – opted to give up his coaching duties, he did leave the door open to a possible return if a suitable successor could not be found, Boothby said. When that turned out to be the case, Sinclair agreed to resume his coaching duties.

A graduate of Hermon High School and Husson College in Bangor, Sinclair has guided the Lynx to a 34-23 record during the last three years, including a 16-4 record last winter when MA advanced to the Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinals before falling to eventual state champion Maranacook of Readfield.

Before coming to Mattanawcook, Sinclair also coached for two years at Hermon, compiling a 29-15 record with the Hawks and also guiding his alma mater to the 2000 Eastern Maine Class B title.

McDormand is a 1973 graduate of Lynn (Mass.) English High School and a 1977 graduate of Colby College, where he played basketball under veteran Mules’ coach Dick Whitmore.

He went on to coach at several high schools in and around Lynn, Mass. One career highlight came in 2004 when he was named the Boston Globe Division 3 coach of the year after leading the Lynnfield High girls basketball team to a 20-5 record and a berth in the state championship game.

McDormand compiled a 70-19 record in four years at Lynnfield, and was named Cape Ann League coach of the year in 2003.

After retiring from a 25-year career with Hansen Engineering and Machinery Inc. in Danvers, Mass., a subsidiary of General Electric, McDormand and his wife moved to Lowell, where they have lived for the past year.

Mattanawcook finished the 2005-06 season with a 13-5 record, good for eighth place in Eastern Maine Class B. The Lynx lost to No. 9 Belfast 72-70 in a preliminary-round contest.

Baber to compete at Games

Matthew Baber, 17, of Veazie will head to South Kingston, R.I., later this week to participate in the fourth World Scholar-Athlete Games at the University of Rhode Island.

Baber, who will be a senior at John Bapst High School in Bangor in the fall, has been selected to participate in baseball, one of a variety of sports competitions offered at the Games.

A life-long athlete participating in many sports, Baber competes on the varsity golf and ski teams at John Bapst, and until this summer played third base for the Orono-Veazie Senior Little League baseball team.

In addition, Baber is active in the John Bapst band, civil rights panel, and ethics panel. After graduating from John Bapst next June, he hopes to attend the University of Central Florida to study business.

The 2006 World Scholar-Athlete Games will bring together approximately 2,000 high school students ages 15 through 19 from more than 160 countries for a week of activities that focuses on athletic competition, art appreciation, leadership development and cultural growth.

The Games were first held in 1993, and have been held every four years since then – except the 2005 games were pushed back a year to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the event-sponsoring Institute for International Sport.

The event drew student-athletes from 108 countries in 2001, but that number is expected to increase with a recently announced partnership between the Institute for International Sport and the United Nations. Under the agreement, Games participants will develop papers in groups on topics ranging from world hunger and sports and ethics to how to bring about peace initiative efforts. They will present their papers on June 30 to U.N. delegates.

Former President Clinton is slated to give the keynote speech at this year’s Games, while other scheduled speakers include former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell of Maine.