2015 marks the 12th year of the Great Scot Trot, a 5K road race held in memory of two legendary Bonny Eagle coaches – Faith Littlefield and Florence “Flossie” Smith – that not only funds scholarships for members of the high school’s field hockey and girls lacrosse teams, but also benefits Camp Sunshine in Casco on the north side of Sebago Lake.

Jean LaBrecque, who helped organize the race and continues to work on it, describes it “as a way to honor Faith and Flossie, and ‘Faith’s babies and Flossie’s ladies’” – a reference to the duo’s countless athletes. A sign decorated with that affectionate phrase hung at every one of their games.

This year’s Trot, originally slated for March 29, has been shuffled to April 12 because of a conflict with another charity event, Mary’s Walk in Saco. All the enjoyment and good memories will no doubt survive the date change, however. A kids’ fun run kicks off the Trot at 8:45 a.m. before the main race at 9.

LaBrecque credits especially Tom Noonan, a former Bonny Eagle English teacher now at Windham, with nurturing the Trot to fruition back in 2003, along with Bob Bourget, Linda Hunt and John Smith, Flossie’s husband. Nancy Smith Jewell, Flossie and John’s daughter, directs the race.

Bourget reminisces fondly about Littlefield: “Faith was without a doubt the greatest teacher, friend and coach that I have had the pleasure of knowing…She influenced my life in countless ways.

“I taught physical education with her at Bonny Eagle High School for 30 years. I don’t believe a day went by in which we did not speak about something. Usually it was how we could help a student be a better person. She always wanted to help the student who was in need.”

Both Littlefield and Smith have passed away, Littlefield from lung cancer in 2001 and Smith from breast cancer in 2002. Their legacies, however, are the stuff of legend, and will no doubt live on far into the future.

“These two coaches are the reason I am who I am today,” says Angela Nasveschuk (nee King), who graduated from Bonny Eagle in 2000 an All-American High School lacrosse player. She went on to play four years of lacrosse at Bowdoin and currently assists Amanda Lewis in coaching both lacrosse and field hockey in Yarmouth, where she lives with her husband and two kids. Lewis, incidentally, also played lacrosse and field hockey for Littlefield and Smith.

Smith played a huge role in ushering Nasveschuk to Bowdoin. “I was the oldest of four children,” Nasveschuk says, “and was having a hard time deciding what to do [for college.] Flossie said, ‘What about Bowdoin?’ She called the lacrosse coach there, Nicky Pearson, and said, ‘You have to sit down and talk with Angela King.’” I was accepted early-decision; I’m so very grateful.

“Flossie lost her battle with cancer my junior year at Bowdoin,” Nasvechuk says. “I was devastated…and then even more motivated. I left the corporate world nine months out of college to teach and coach. I’ve been coaching for over 10 years.”

Littlefield, who hailed originally from Wells, majored in physical education at North Dakota State, then joined the Bonny Eagle teaching staff in 1966. Over the years she coached girls basketball, boys/girls indoor track and, of course, field hockey.

Smith, on the other hand, grew up in Pennsylvania; in college, she majored in health and physical education as well. She moved with her husband and their three kids to Maine in the mid-1980s, and she eventually began teaching at Bonny Eagle Middle School. While there, she developed an adaptive physical education program for special needs students, and also brought the Special Olympics to SAD 6.

In her tenure as field hockey coach, Littlefield piled win on win, amassing a 339-100-33 record and delivering eight state championships. In 1997, after almost three decades among the nation’s top field hockey referees, Smith joined the Bonny Eagle team as Littlefield’s assistant.

Smith started the girls lacrosse program – with Littlefield as her assistant – in 1998. In three short years, the pair guided the team to a 53-8 record. Bonny Eagle went undefeated in their 2000 season, capturing the Class A State title.

That was the year Smith received her breast cancer diagnosis. “I remember the day she took off her hat – she’d lost all her hair from chemo – and I remember her smile and how liberating it was for her to do what she was doing: coaching us!” says Nasveschuk.

“We played that year for her. Every day was a battle for her and so every game we played like it was our last. We won every single one that season. We were not the most talented team. But, we had more heart and desire than any team in the state that year.”

Nasveschuk describes the pair as possessing contrasting, but complementary personalities: “Coach Smith and Littlefield were a dynamic duo of coaches. Littlefield was gruff; Smith was motherly. Both built incredible confidence and motivation in hundreds of athletes.”

“Perhaps the greatest legacy of Faith and Flossie is the love for field hockey and lacrosse they instilled in their players,” says LaBrecque, articulating a truth the pair’s athletes will obviously attest to.

In its 11 years, the Trot has awarded roughly $60,000 in financial aid to members of the field hockey and girls lacrosse teams. “There are usually four to five scholarships awarded, and they vary from $500 to $1,000 each,” LaBrecque says.

Donations to Camp Sunshine usually help pay for a family’s stay, she adds.

The Great Scot Trot is online at http://greatscottrot.weebly.com. Pre-registration runs until 4 p.m. on April 11 and costs $17 (no T-shirt) or $22 (with T-shirt). Registration on race day, from 7-8:30 a.m., costs $25 (no T-shirt).

Faith Littlefield, left, and Flossie Smith served as coach and assistant coach, respectively, of the Bonny Eagle High School’s field hockey team. Both died of cancer in the early 2000s.

Copy the Story Link