Twelve years feels like a long time for Scott Rousseau.

Travis Jalbert remembers it like it was yesterday.

Both were rookies – sort of: Rousseau in his first year behind the bench of then-Class B Falmouth, and Jalbert auditioning for travel hockey in the Lewiston area youth system, one year away from trying out for his first St. Dom’s squad.

Now, the St. Dom’s graduates are at opposite ends of a shrinking gender and experience gap. Rousseau, entering his 12th season behind the Falmouth (now Class A) bench, is the elder statesman, at least in terms of tenure.

“At 37 years old,” Rousseau said. “That’s scary.”

Jalbert, who graduated from St. Dom’s in 2002, is in his second year coaching at Westbrook, and is one of 21 coaches this season stepping behind their team’s bench for their first or second season.

There are varying reasons for the sharp turnover. Some coaches, such as J.P. Adams at Lisbon/Oak Hill, have young families. They want to spend more time at home, with wives and children.

Others retire, tired of the commitment it takes to run a competitive program and feeling unable to provide the necessary time and energy.

Still others leave under less glamorous circumstances, victims of heightened expectations and a vocal minority of fans, who feel the coach hasn’t lived up to preconceived notions of competitive grandeur.

This decade-long mass exodus – and it has been en masse, with all but two current Class A programs having changed coaches since Y2K went Y2-dud – has paved the way for a new era.

Like attention spans and stacks of discretionary cash, the length of an average coaching tenure is now shorter – much shorter – than it was a decade ago.

Local impact

Even the top hockey programs in the state haven’t been immune to this phenomenon. St. Dom’s – with its state-leading 24 championships – and Lewiston – close behind with 20 – each ushered in new eras this season, just three years after welcoming their previous “new eras.”

Unlike some coaches at some schools, though, these coaches arrived with some pedigree.

Jamie Belleau is a Lewiston graduate, a local attorney, and he’s earned two Class A state championships as a coach at rival Edward Little.

Steve Ouellette is no stranger to the area, either. He takes over at St. Dom’s after coaching the junior varsity program there last year. He’s only a few years removed from coaching at Cape Elizabeth, and the Capers won a state title in Class B.

“It takes a while to build a program, too,” Ouellette said. “When we got there, we weren’t getting the best kids, and we only had 20 to 22 kids coming out at a time. It took a while to do that, and you have to be winning to put that time in to develop a younger program.”

Far from rookies, really, but opportunists, for sure, each seized the chance to fill an all-too-familiar vacancy behind their school’s hockey bench.

“Obviously there are certain programs you want to be at,” Ouellette said. “St. Dom’s is one of them, I should say is the one. No matter how long I end up doing this, I just don’t see myself going onto another program and doing it all over again.”

In Auburn, Edward Little nearly lost its coach, too. But Craig Latuscha, now in his fourth season, stuck it out. In the 13-team Eastern Class A division, Latuscha has been a head coach longer than all but four other coaches.

“I love the kids, I love hockey, and I love teaching kids,” Latuscha said. “Honestly, it goes hand in hand. I’m committed to the kids and to this program. There’s always been times when I’ve wanted to resign, sure, with family things coming up (Latuscha is getting married next summer), I want to go for my masters certification. But I feel loyal to the kids and to the program.”

Reasons abound

When Belleau left the game the first time, his family was growing and work was taking up most of whatever time was left. He needed the break.

Ouellette had his chance early. He had no wife, no kids and being in Portland for morning practices was easy to handle.

For other coaches, it’s not so cut and dry.

The Lewiston vacancy arose from a controversial resignation by long-time hockey coach Norm Gagne, who had been at the school for three seasons. He’s now helping out at Scarborough, which plays its games at USM, near his home in Gorham.

Other coaches left on worse terms, victims of over-zealous boosters and unattainable goals set by parents and fans, who don’t yet understand the structure of Maine high school hockey.

“Booster clubs and parental involvement are turning these jobs into too much stress,” Rousseau said. “Most of these guys are not leaving the coaching profession because they suddenly stopped liking hockey. Let’s be fair, though. Some of these guys probably deserved to be pressured, but the majority of these guys are saying, ‘You know what? It’s not worth it anymore.'”

Fortunately for Jalbert, now in his second season at Westbrook, he’s found a solid situation, where the goals, he believes, are realistic, and the school, athletic director and parents are understanding of the process.

“I think the players can relate a bit better,” Jalbert said. “I’ll skate with them, and we have some veteran coaches around, too, so that helps.”

Class difference

For reasons many of the state’s coaches are still trying to understand, Class B has seen much less turnover.

There are now just six schools that make up Western Class B. Five of the six have coaches who have been with their programs for at least five years, and Camden Hills only switched this season because last year’s coach ran out of time due to job commitments, not because he didn’t want to be there.

“Everybody in our division, we all have great respect for each other, and we learn from each other,” Leavitt coach Ron Rouillard said. “We meet once a month at least, and we share practice drills with each other. We like to keep our organization competitive, and it just helps everybody involved, and certainly the kids.”

In the eight-team Eastern Class B division, just two of the teams welcome new coaches this season.

Moving forward

As the coaching carousel continues to spin, there appears, at least at some schools, to be an end in sight. For younger coaches, one of the biggest keys to avoid being thrown from the merry-go-round is learning how to interact well with the players – and their parents.

“Part of this job is you have to expect to get criticism, anticipate that criticism and you have to be able to deal with that criticism,” Belleau said. “Communication is the most effective way to deal with it. High school hockey is an important part of these young men’s lives, it’s been an important part of their parents’ lives, and communicating with them very clear expectations from the beginning will go a long way toward diffusing any problems that may arise.”

“One the tougher things is being taken seriously,” Jalbert said. “Sometimes, during the pre-game, (officials) will come over and shake hands with the coach, and they’ll automatically go over to my dad, who’s an assistant coach. He has to kind of point over at me.”

With so many first- and second-year coaches taking over this year, the opportunity is there for many programs to begin a building process, one Rousseau and the rest of the league say will only serve to strengthen the quality of hockey statewide.

Well, for another 12 years, anyway.