Nokomis coach Anderson resigns

After the final game of the basketball season, Earl Anderson knew he was ready to finish up his coaching career at Nokomis of Newport.

He took a few months to think about it, and now Anderson is sure of his decision. He told the Warriors last week and has notified athletic director Jason Tardy that he will resign.

Anderson, who coached Nokomis to the Class A state title in 2001 and runner-up honors in 2003, said he plans to submit a letter to the school board to thank them for their support in his 12 years with the team.

“I loved my 12 years at Nokomis,” said Anderson, who will continue to teach history at Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield. “I had great players and I had great support from the administration to the maintenance staff.”

Anderson said he didn’t have one specific reason for resigning and there was nothing negative involved.

“This is just a good time, I think, although there’s never really a good time,” said the 1975 Orono High and 1979 University of Maine graduate. “You’re always going to leave behind kids and you hate to do that.”

Anderson, who coached boys basketball at Hampden Academy, Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield and Orono, as well as MCI baseball for two years, before taking the Nokomis job for the 1995-96 season, announced after the 2004 season he would resign but changed his mind later that spring.

There will be no changes this time, Anderson said, because he gave himself more time in the offseason to ponder his future.

“I wanted to think about it at least a couple of months,” he said. “I didn’t want to make the decision too quickly.”

Anderson had a 143-73 regular-season record with Nokomis. The Warriors were 9-10 last season with a loss to Mt. Blue of Farmington in the EM Class A prelims.

Nokomis had a history of solid girls basketball teams but the Warriors hadn’t won a regional or state championship until 2001, when Anderson coached a talented group of sophomores including eventual All-Maine first-team player Danielle Clark, Michelle Murray, Lindsey Welch, Sara Lowe and senior Laura Pelkey to a win over McAuley of Portland for the Class A crown.

The sophomores returned to the state game their senior year but lost to McAuley.

Anderson said he would consider coaching again and will miss the job, especially his interactions with student-athletes and his fellow coaches.

“It’s been a great profession for me,” he said. “I think it’s an honorable profession. We’re privileged to be involved. … I still stay in touch with all the former players. That’s the best part, the relationships. If done right, they can last a lifetime.”

It’s been a busy time for Anderson, who got married last Friday in Orono to the former Martha Susi. The couple, who live in Newport, were set for a honeymoon in Washington, D.C, starting Monday but their trip was aborted because of the recent weather.

Now that Anderson’s winters have opened up, the couple can reschedule.

“We were just talking about that the other day,” Anderson said. “I’ve never had a school vacation. Basketball takes away Thanksgiving, Christmas, February vacation and then baseball and being an assistant AD [at MCI] took away April vacation. Maybe we’ll go somewhere next winter.”