By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – When Scott Walker sat down with his wife last year and discussed his future goals and aspirations, he set a course for athletic administration.

It was a long-term plan in his mind, but things quickly changed. He received a phone call from a friend, alerting him to the opening for a new athletic director at Mt. Blue High School.

“It’s kind of serendipitous,” said Walker. “It sort of happened. A friend called me up and said, I know you’re interested.’ Sometimes things just happen. I happened to be home and got the phone call.”

Walker was approved Tuesday as the Cougars new athletic director, replacing Bonnie Levesque, who left to take a principal’s job in Madison. Walker has already started the transition from English teacher to athletic administrator.

“I’m wading through mountains of paperwork and familiarizing myself with people that are here,” said Walker.

Walker graduated from Lawrence High School and studied government at Dartmouth. He returned to his hometown and was with the football program for four years, three as the head coach. He also coached basketball at a various levels and taught English there for the past three years.

“I enjoyed teaching and working with kids in that way, but if you’re a goal-driven person, like I am, you want to expand and give yourself the opportunity to move up,” said Walker.

“To me, it’s all about goals. If you don’t set goals to do, it’s a lot harder to achieve them.”

So Walker set his mind on getting certified and attaining an athletic administration job in the future. He had a five-year plan in place. When he got that call from a friend, it was late in the process at Mt. Blue, but it provided the kind of opportunity Walker wanted.

“I made a few phone calls and talked to people I respect a great deal and applied,” he said.

Having competed and coached against Mt. Blue over the years, Walker says he has always admired the tradition and pride that the Cougars have maintained in their programs.

“One of the pieces for me that is most important is that level of pride,” said Walker. “Bonnie did a fantastic job here, and I want to try to get myself up to that level. I want to bring a level of pride to what the kids do and what the community does.”

Though he’s only been on the job for a few days, Walker is already ecstatic about what he’s seen so far and the possibilities to come.

“Anytime a young person or a new person comes to a job, they bring a certain level of excitement and enthusiasm,” he said. “It’s been a great fit so far. Sometimes good things really do happen.”