High school sports coverage is proudly supported by Maine State Credit Union. 

Skowhegan Area High School has started the process of finding its next field hockey coach.

The school on April 3 posted the opening for a coach to take the place of Paula Doughty, who won 20 state championships and more than 600 games in her 44 years at the helm. The school announced in a meeting with team members on March 6 that Doughty would not be returning.

MSAD 54 Superintendent of Schools Jon Moody declined comment about the school’s decision to move on from Doughty both in March and after the job was posted. Skowhegan athletic director Nicolaus Wallace said on April 14 that the school hadn’t done any interviews but had started collecting applications.

“We’ll hire probably early May-ish, I would assume,” he said. “Before summertime.”

Wallace declined to comment on the number of applications Skowhegan has received, or provide specifics on who has applied. Skowhegan had three assistants last year in Brandi Merry, Fawn Haynie and Hannah Prokopova.

Prokopova, who as Hannah McKenney played for Skowhegan from 2017-19 before competing at Providence College, said she isn’t applying.

Wallace said the school is open to internal and external candidates, as well as applicants with extensive or limited coaching experience.

“There’s no set guidelines,” he said. “We want to find a good fit, regardless of their (being) in-house or from outside.”

The position is one of the highest-profile job openings the sport has seen. Under Doughty, Skowhegan became the dominant program in the state, and synonymous with championships. Doughty won 644 games and took the River Hawks to 28 state finals. Skowhegan set a record that still stands with 78 straight wins from 2010-14, and also had a 57-game winning streak that ended in 2009.

“It’s definitely going to be different,” junior back Kaylea Quirion said about adjusting to a new coach. “I think it’s going to take a couple of months. … It just will take time to get used to.”

Quirion said the school involved players in the search for the next coach, and the team was called into the auditorium in early April and asked by school officials what they’re looking for in the next person to take over the program.

“Someone that we can trust and is honest with us, is tough on us, is a competitive coach and also a players’ coach, and wants to win and put the extra work in,” she said. “We want someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Quirion said that doesn’t need to be an established coach, and a knowledgeable former player would work as well.

“That could also be OK,” she said. “That is also something that we’ve kept open-minded to. We want someone who has a lot of field hockey IQ and a lot of field hockey experience.”

Quirion said it “still upsets” her that the school isn’t bringing Doughty back, but she and the team have been satisfied with how they’ve been heard in the hiring process.

“I think they’re leaning toward the same thing (we want),” she said. “Those are some serious, big shoes they’ll have to fill.”