BATH

When Scott Walker took over as the Morse High School athletic director in July 2009, he knew how passionate Shipbuilder fans were. It is a memory that he will always have.

On Friday, Scott finishes up his time leading the Shipbuilders, heading south to become the new AD at Gray- New Gloucester.

Scott showed his emotion during an interview at the McMann Field Complex recently, a facility that came into fruition during his eight years leading the Blue and White, with its pristine turf field and blue track replacing the aging grass field, remembered for its rising center and fall-away sidelines.

There has been success, tough losses, scary moments where a player went down with an injury, but what Scott said he will remember most is the Shipbuilder experience, a community made up of passionate fans and blue-collar fundamentals.

“I was really lucky that I had some historical knowledge of Morse, knowing that this was a great program here. One of the great indicators is when our basketball team makes the postseason and we shut the lights off, the fans are all there. It is really an awesome thing to have that kind of support. Walk into Bath Middle School for a Friday night basketball game and see all of that history there, with people that have seen a lot of basketball games. There is great dedication here from the community.”

It is easy to pat Scott on the back for the successes — four consecutive Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships for the girls lacrosse team, a swim program that has produced a state title led by a 25-year coaching veteran, a solid tennis program, and packed stands at Bath Middle School for basketball. Then there is the blame that comes to the man in charge when things go south.

But, there are so many things that go into that word, “Success,” where wins and losses don’t tell the story, where a winless season ends on a high note, leaving those players with that lasting memory. Or when a team needs a victory to push into the postseason … and gets it! Did those athletes have the right facilities to succeed? Was their Morse athletic experience one that they will remember positively for a lifetime?

“I have been doing this (AD) job for 12 years. Not many people do it for that long. I was able to experience greatness. I was part of some great teams, I really want that for the kids where I work. There is enough of punching the time clock later, so hopefully we give the kids the opportunities.”

There were moments where the statement, “We have never done it that way before,” was a challenge for Scott as he began putting his stamp on Morse athletics. There was the aging McMann Field facility, with parents, coaches and former players trying to raise enough money to have a new “complex” built. There was the softball field, with games played right along a main road near the middle school that needed a new home.

“As we sit here looking over this amazing complex, it is easy to take for granted what we have here. Go to other fields and this doesn’t exist. We hosted a regional final here five years ago and we had an amazing girls soccer team. Coach (Steve) Boyce and Tori Field, who will assist this year, we were out here rolling the field, tapping it down, trying to make it playable. Now, we have one of the best fields in the state and we have been able to host MPA state championships in soccer, field hockey and track. It speaks volumes of the people around here. I have been walking around for the past month or so, going to the top of the press box to take photos of this.

“When I got here, we were playing softball up at Legion Field. (Softball coach) Will Laffely, Steve Balboni and I just kept walking around, and through the Bath Recreation Department we came up with a space in this contained area on Tainter Field, away from the road, for softball. I think and hope that we have done what is best for these athletes.”

Personal challenges

Scott has faced personal emotional ups and downs. He went through a divorce. A year ago, he married Erika and went from having two children, senior Hannah and junior Jackson, to four, adding stepchildren Brian (senior) and Sarah (sophomore). By the way, all four attend Morse High School and will forever be as Scott said, “Shipbuilders!”

Those trials and tribulations for Scott were well-known. After all, it is tough to keep things private when your “out there.”

“What I experienced here is you realize just how public the athletic director position is, and that comes with a lot of pressure. It is hard to have some privacy. That is OK. Everybody thought they knew what was going on, and we took advantage of those times when we weren’t out front. You find those moments to be a dad. It is hard and a great thing. Good, bad or indifferent, my kids have experienced a lot of stuff, being on the sideline, me going to the hospital for another kid who might have gotten hurt. I am blessed because my kids have a great understanding of what dad is doing. I am fortunate to have two children, two stepchildren, and an understanding wife who gets this. I was an athletic director when (Erika) came into my life.

“When you put the food on the table, a roof over our heads, you realize it’s a job and there are things that you have to do. When I arrived, I knew that I would never be considered a true ‘Shipbuilder,’ but my kids will be. When my kids walk across that stage and get their diplomas, they are forever a part of the best alumni association in the world. That will be a neat thing.”

Scott’s journey began at Lawrence High School. Raised in Fairfield, Scott was a standout for the Bulldogs on the gridiron and on the hardwood. His next step was playing football at Dartmouth, helping his team to a pair of Ivy League championships.

“I played for some great coaches, Mike McGee, Pete Cooper, great coaches and role models. I was fortunate to land on championship teams, and sometimes you think that happens for everybody. But, it doesn’t.”

Scott transitioned into an athletic director when he was 31-years-old, taking over the Mt. Blue program in Farmington. Next was Morse. In a KVAC meeting recently, Scott added up the time that he has spent in the KVAC, both as an athlete and as an AD.

“I have been part of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference for some 20 years. It is a wild thing.”

At Morse, Scott leaned on those who had been there, done that.

“My knowledge of Morse High School was that it is an awesome place to be. I have been fortunate to have some heartfelt conversations with Brian Hatch, who has spent his life in this school district. I think I have left it better than I found it.

“I have been really blessed here, surrounded by some great people, coaches. You take for granted sometimes those people you have working with our kids. We have a swim coach (Todd Marco) that has been here for 25 years, state champions, league champions. We have run out of space on the awards board because of how successful and strong they have been. We have a baseball coach (Garrett Olson) that played for the Minnesota Twins, a lacrosse coach (Linda Levesque) that has given her whole adult life to Morse. Jason Darling coaching football, Chuck Reece coaching soccer, two young coaches who are doing the right things.

“When I started as an athletic director, I was 31-years-old, young, and my ego was very real. When I spoke to our seniors this year, I got emotional, and I realize that I am lucky to be around some really great people. This field had very little to do with Scott Walker. Parents sold raffle tickets, held fund raisers, Bath Savings and First Federal donated so much money and time to make this a reality. And the guys back there (Bath Recreation Department) get little credit. It was the city of Bath, Morse High School and the kids that came through that door that deserve the credit.”

There were moments that Scott had trouble containing his emotion over the past few weeks.

“Sometimes you get lost while doing this job and you don’t have the opportunity to focus on the achievements by the athletes. The last two springs, every team qualified for the postseason. The softball team was a great combination of leadership, like senior Hope Faulkingham, teaming with freshman like Dory Kulis and Paige Faulkingham in advancing to a region semifinal. The last girls lacrosse game here, it didn’t end the way we wanted it to (a 10-9 Shipbuilder loss to Oceanside), but I was fortunate because I got to walk up to those senior girls and thank them for four KVAC titles. That is amazing stuff. I thanked them for letting me be a part of that experience. Watching Isabelle Paulus play lacrosse out here, or watching Tucker Banger and Ann Tolan swim at the Y, or watching a kid out here like Damon Osmond perform out on this football field on Friday nights, I was so blessed to watch some great things happen. This was the absolute joy of my life, outside of my family, watching the accomplishments of those athletes here. I have experienced that greatness at Morse.”

Now Scott faces a new challenge, leading the Patriots and moving to a new conference (Western Maine Conference). He replaces former Mt. Ararat boys basketball coach Aaron Watson as the Gray-New Gloucester AD.

“I wanted to see what else is out there. I realize that there are other opportunities. This is a job, a career, and I probably became too emotionally attached here. Morse has been a stable part of my life, but at some point you have to look out there and see what else is out there. I feel really good about the opportunity and the chance to focus on Gray-New Gloucester. I am looking forward to it. I know lots of folks over there. It is an exciting place to be. Professionally, you always want to look for the biggest challenge. It is hard to stay at the same place for a long time in order to stay fresh professionally.”

But there are the other things — not being on the field that first Friday night in September when Morse hosts a football game, or hanging out with those Shipbuilder coaches and athletes that have only known one Scott Walker as the man in charge of Morse athletics.

“I still live here, will still be able to come and watch the games, maybe even more so now. I am going to miss the people. Santana Wilson, our athletic trainer, we started at the same time and we are at every home game. It is the coaches that I am going to miss. As an athletic director, the people you are most in common with, the coaches, you have to supervise them and evaluate them, so you can’t really be ‘friends.’ I will miss those relationships.

“That first Friday night of football here, I am really looking forward to it, to have a cheeseburger and sit in the stands and watch. I won’t be stressed out at putting on a great event. Won’t worry if the sound system will work during the anthem. We have had that happen. We have done the Pledge of Allegiance before a game because the sound system went out.

“You have to put your stamp on things, and I feel that we have done that.”

Scott, you certainly have!

BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.