WATERBORO — Opportunity doesn’t always knock twice, so when he heard the rapping at the door the first time, Tim Spear wasted no time turning the knob.
Spear, who has been Massabesic High’s Athletic Director the past two years, will leave that post for the same job at Gorham High, effective July 1.
He will replace Gerry Durgin, who is retiring after 31 years as an athletic director, including the last 18 at Gorham.
Until then, Spear, who was Massabesic’s athletic trainer for 10 years before moving up to his present post, will try to make as smooth a transition as possible.
“It’s been a little crazy,” said Spear. “But things are exciting. We’re keeping things rolling here, but we’ll work with Gerry over there a little bit. See if we can get the lay of the land over there.”
Spear said that he wasn’t looking to make a move. But when he became aware of Durgin’s retirement plans, he wanted to at least check out the situation.
“It did come up pretty quick,” he said. “It was one that I said if it ever came open, I’d take a look. So I did, and it worked out well.
“It’s one of those one town communities where the support for athletics is tremendous. They have some nice plans in the works. They have fine facilities, great coaches and great kids. I’m looking forward to getting over there.”
A change in venue doesn’t necessarily equate to additional resources. However, Spear said, moving on to Gorham will allow him to utilize a different selection of tools.
Among them may be a proposed synthetic turf multi-purpose field that could be used for sports such as football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey.
There are no such plans for the facilities at Massabesic.
“Budgets are tough everywhere,” he said. “Gerry’s dealing with the same budget issues over there, as well. There are some new sports over there that we don’t have over here, and some we have that they don’t. The level of the support is the same, but I think the commitment to athletics from a community standpoint really stands out more than anything.”
Spear said that leaving the student community at Massabesic after a dozen years of service won’t be easy.
“It’s been tough,” he said. “On the kids, on myself and on the parents. They’ve shown me a ton of support since I got the job. They’ve done a lot of things that I asked them to do as students to promote athletics within our school. I think the school is starting to do some nice things.
“I think the kids know I wouldn’t do it unless I felt it was best for my family. But I think they’re a little disappointed, for sure. They’re great kids to work with, and I’m going to miss them.”
Meanwhile, the school has begun the process of finding Spear’s successor.
The opening has been posted, and Spear said that applications have already been received.
“I don’t imagine that I will be part (of the process),” he said. “But I’m hoping that the next person will be in here relatively soon. I’ll assist in anyway I can.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.
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