POLAND- Susan Robbins had pondered the idea of being the athletic director at Yarmouth High School, but didn’t really think it was an opportunity she’d see anytime soon.
“It was one of those things where I had discussed which jobs, if they might open up, I might apply for,” said Robbins. “I didn’t image that it would open up for quite a while, but I thought that might not be a bad jump.”
Thor Nilson had made the move to Yarmouth from South Portland, and appeared implanted in that position before back problems forced his recent resignation. Robbins applied for the opening and was hired last week, subsequently resigning as the director of co-curricular activities at Poland Regional High School.
“What Yarmouth can offer me at this point in my career, I think it’s a good step for me,” said Robbins.
Robbins leaves Poland after five years. She’s been instrumental in building the fledgling athletic program and was a successful field hockey and softball coach.
“Of course, it’s bittersweet,” she said as she began the cleaning house process in her Poland office on Wednesday. “I put a lot of my blood, sweat and tears into creating this program. I think this program has come a long way under my leadership, which is a great source of pride for me.”
Trying to run the athletic program, coach, manage the co-curricular activities in addition to other roles, had her pretty extended. She won’t say she was “maxed out”, but admits it was a challenge to keep her head above water. The idea of solely focusing on being an athletic director at Yarmouth was a welcome opportunity.
“I want to be able to do the creative things that I know I can,” said Robbins. “You can’t be creative in a job when you’re just getting things done at the end of the day.”
Yarmouth offers her the kind of support help that Poland could not. She’ll also reduce her commuting time, which was over 60 minutes each day to Poland. She lives just 10 miles from Yarmouth.
The fact that Yarmouth has a strong reputation for academics and athletics was a factor as well. Though Poland has a strong academic reputation and is slowly building success in athletics, Yarmouth is well-established in both areas.
“So I figured it was a good time after five years to move to a school that has great athletic tradition and is very good academically,” said Robbins. “I think Yarmouth is one of the top five school districts in the whole state. So that was a big draw for me.
“Certainly the expectations are probably going to be a bit different. While I set my expectations high here, Yarmouth has that rich athletic tradition. So there’s probably a little more pressure to that end to be successful. Here, it’s We’re building programs, we’re not there yet, but we’re going to get there and this is what we’re trying to do to get there.'”
Robbins won’t be coaching at Yarmouth, though she likes to have that kind of interaction with the students. She helped build the Poland softball program into a consistent playoff contender and helped the field hockey team to its most successful campaign last fall. She’ll pitch in and help with those programs at Yarmouth when she can.
She’ll also have to leave the Sports Done Right work done at Poland, which is one of the pilot schools for the coaching initiative. Being an advocate for the program, she may try and bring some of that work with her.
For Poland, which will also have a new principal, it will a year of change. Progress has been made in bolstering the athletic programs, but someone else will have to move that forward.
“I think there’s definitely going to be a new kind of tinge to that this year,” said Robbins. “Whoever comes in and replaces me, fresh ideas and new ideas are always good.”
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