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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: 3-sport high school coaches in it for love of job

Waterville's Wilson, Messalonskee's Sheridan among those staying busy

By Gary Hawkins ghawkins@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

There's not a lot of down time in Tom Sheridan's life. Between teaching at Messalonskee High School and raising four kids with his wife, Ellie, Sheridan coaches three varsity sports at the Oakland school.

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ALWAYS AROUND: Waterville Senior High School track and field coach Ian Wilson keeps an eye on his team during practice Wednesday in Waterville. Wilson, who coaches a sport during all three seasons, estimates he puts in somewhere around 70 to 80 hours a week between teaching and coaching, but has found a way to avoid burnout.

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THIS IS HOW: Coach Jon Millet chats with one of his Cony High School athletes, Kaitlyn Marks, a distance runner for the track and field team. Millet is a three-sport varsity coach, heading up the outdoor track and field team, the swimming team and the boys soccer team.

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Sheridan is the head coach in all three -- boys soccer, swimming and boys lacrosse -- a rarity these days when a new coaching vacancy seldom attracts more than two or three applicants. Like most coaches, Sheridan is a master of organization, at least away from home.

"He's organized when it comes to sports," Ellie Sheridan said, "but if it comes to putting laundry away ..."

Sheridan didn't become head coach in swimming until last winter, but for four years prior to that he coached lacrosse at Thomas College, in addition to coaching the sport at Messalonskee.

"When he was doing Thomas we never saw him," Ellie said. "But now we do. He usually has supper with us."

Sheridan is among a handful of coaches who are head coaches in three varsity sports at central Maine high schools. Members of that fraternity include Waterville's Ian Wilson, Lawrence's Tim Alberts and Cony's Jon Millett.

Shawn Totman relinquished his head coaching position in track to Millett this spring but remains an assistant. He's still head coach in cross country and wrestling at Cony and in recent years also coached the middle school wrestling team in February and March.

Millett, who was recently hired as boys soccer coach, is the longtime swim coach at Cony as well.

"For quite a few years I'd start coaching in the middle of August and didn't get done until after the New England meet the second week of June," Totman said.

"It just begins to wear on you, there's no life outside of it, especially those years I was doing four sports. You love what you're doing, but it's exhausting."

Just becoming an assistant in track this spring has recharged Totman's enthusiasm. Assistants don't have to worry about athletes' grades, team discipline or communicating with parents. Nor do they have to order equipment, deal with paperwork or worry about many other little details.

"You basically show up and you can coach," Totman said. "It's almost rejuvenated me. You realize why you got into it in the first place."

It's certainly not for the money. Head coaches typically earn between $4,000 and $5,000, which doesn't amount to much when the hours are factored in.

"It's below minimum wage," Waterville athletic director Doug Frame said.

Frame's fortunate to have a coach like Wilson overseeing three sports. He currently coaches girls soccer as well as indoor and outdoor track and field, and he's won state titles in all three, including a total of 13 in boys and girls indoor and outdoor track and field.

Frame's daughter Alexa has had Wilson for her coach in all three sports this school year and doesn't recall seeing him have a bad day.

"I never see him down," she said. "I've never seen him when he's not ready to work hard. He's just as enthusiastic in practice as he is in games and meets."

Wilson is also Frame's English teacher and she knows at least one way to get him off task in class.

"He's a very good teacher," she said. "But if you get him talking about sports, he'll talk forever."

All five three-sport coaches are teachers at the schools at which they coach. Totman doesn't see how it could be any other way. He said he rarely recalls a day when he doesn't prod an athlete about his or her grades.

And if there's a discipline problem in another class, it can be resolved with an email from that teacher and a quiet lecture in practice to knock it off.

"They don't do it again," Totman said.

Unlike Wilson or Sheridan, Totman isn't married. Coaching year-round doesn't help.

"My father said that's why," Totman said.

Wilson said his wife Leslie knew what to expect when the two got married.

"When she met me I was coaching three sports," Wilson said. "It's just who I am."

Wilson said he's learned to delegate more responsibility to his assistants and Frame has made sure he's had some good ones, often hiring a head coach from another sport to help in their offseason. There are summertime responsibilities, too. Along with coaching summer soccer games, Sheridan also conducts camps and clinics throughout the summer months.

Wilson estimates he puts in 70-80 hours a week between teaching and coaching, but has found a way to avoid burnout.

"I have to say no a lot," he said. "When I first started coaching I didn't want to say no. I'd get asked quite often to help athletes prepare (for a particular sport). I say no to camps in the summer, too."

Sheridan has helped build Messalonskee into a lacrosse power in Eastern Maine and his soccer and swim teams have done well, too. Like all good coaches, he keeps up with the latest techniques and frequently attends clinics.

"You've got to increase your knowledge of any sport to be successful," he said. "I need to spend more time brushing up on swimming."

These coaches are supreme organizers of their time both in and out of practice. Not only does Sheridan coach year-round he also helps coach his 6-year-old daughter's softball team while his 9-year-old is just starting to learn lacrosse.

Wilson said his wife gets a little antsy after he's had one or two weeks off between seasons and so does he.

"At first the extra time is great," he said. "Personally, I really start to miss the involvement with the athletes."

Like Wilson and most of his fellow central Maine coaches, Sheridan seemed destined to coach. He began as lacrosse coach at Messalonskee 17 years ago when he was a junior at the University of Maine and commuted daily between Orono and Oakland.

"I just love it," he said. "I love coaching. That's originally why I got into teaching."

Totman said he plans to continue as head coach in both cross country and wrestling and will remain as assistant in track.

"I'm having as much fun as I can ever remember coaching," he said. "I think my teaching has gotten better, too. Once you get into it, it's kind of infectious.

"It's neat to see these kids develop. You feel like you have a hand in changing somebody's life."

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com