Little kids grow up wanting to play for her. Alumni call her pretty much on a daily basis to let her know what’s going on in their lives.

After 36 years as head coach and 41 in the game overall, Skowhegan field hockey coach Paula Doughty shows no signs of slowing down.

This season, Doughty recorded her 500th career victory, far and away the best in the state. Her overall record stands at 504-88-19. More important was the 17th Class A state championship her Indians brought home to the school’s trophy case.

Doughty has twice been named National High School field hockey coach of the year, yet here in Maine she’s often taken for granted, a victim of her program’s perennial success.

Only when she faces a little adversity as her team did this season, is Doughty recognized for being the coach she is. This year she took a young team to another state title and for her efforts is the Morning Sentinel Field Hockey Coach of the Year. Mt. Blue coach Jody Harmon was also considered.

Even in a building year, the Indians are formidable. Players arrive with the requisite skills and just need experience to challenge for a championship. Doughty and her coaching staff, nonetheless, expected a lot from their team and reevaluated their approach following some setbacks near midseason.

“I had to sit down and do some real soul-searching,” Doughty said. “We had to put more effort into it.”

Doughty played a core of five or six players and rotated the rest in and out of the lineup throughout the season in an effort to give her younger players a chance.

“It helped,” she said.

In the 3-2 regional championship win against Messalonskee, the Indians got two goals from freshmen and another from a sophomore. By the time they faced Massabesic in the state title game, they were worn out, having faced and beaten three quality opponents in Oxford Hills, Mt. Blue and Messalonskee. The Indians weren’t at their best but still had enough left in the tank for a 2-1 victory and their 14th title in the last 16 years.

“The Skowhegan Indians are a big deal and you have to live up to it,” senior Rylie Mullin said following Doughty’s 500th win. “She gets you ready for it.”

“I love to win,” Doughty added. “Most kids are self indulgent. What matters to me most is I want them to be strong independent women.”

There’s an expectation from Doughty and her staff that all her players attend college. Most of them do and many (over 100) play field hockey. That number includes 35 who have played at the Division I level.

“I’m most proud of all the young women who went to college and became good people,” she said.

Doughty typically engages her players when they’re in junior high, attending many of their games and tournaments. She credits youth coaches in town for getting them ready, and when they get to high school they’re not only greeted by Doughty but a veteran staff that includes Tammie Veinotte, who has been with her over 20 years, Norma Boynton and volunteers Kim Leo and Fawn Haynie. Doughty gives them plenty of responsibility and listens to what they have to say.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do,” she said. “They tell me what to do.”

After 43 years as a teacher, Doughty will retire at the end of the school year. She has no plans to retire from coaching, however, and expects to expend all her energy on ensuring the Indians are the team to beat.