BUCKFIELD – Island life may have its charms, but it also has its challenges.

Creating a softball program 15 miles off the coast of Maine may not be an ideal scenario for most aspiring coaches, but it is certainly working for Jessica McGreevy.

The Buckfield native and former assistant at Jay has revived the softball program at Vinalhaven School. The island is in the middle of Penobscot Bay, a 75-minute ferry ride from Rockland.

“It’s been a great opportunity for me,” McGreevy said. “Ever since I was playing, I really looked forward to one day being able to coach. It’s kind of a nice opportunity to have a blank slate. There are no bad habits that kids have. There’s no expectations that they’re going to win a championship. They can start off from scratch and everything they do is a step closer to being better.”

The program has existed only once in a blue moon on the island. After having a steady program in the 1980s, there has been little to no consistency to build upon. That’s something McGreevy vowed to change.

“Three played Little League last year, and the rest of them had never played before,” McGreevy said of her roster. “This is a huge step for them. They’re brave kids for trying it out and putting themselves out there. They’re doing a great job.”

When McGreevy took her math teaching job on Vinalhaven 1½ years ago, she had the aspirations of starting a varsity program. She helped out with a Little League squad, of girls 12-and-under, last year.

“I’ve been there with the idea that eventually I’d start a softball team,” she said. “I went and talked to the superintendent about it last summer. We decided it was something we’d be able to do if we had enough interest and we do.”

She has 15 girls participating – about half the girls in the school. She has just two seniors, Chelsea Guptill and Hillary Bunker. The rest are sophomores, freshmen or still in middle school. Class D schools can use eighth-graders, and since her team is still a club sport, McGreevy added a seventh-grader, who was too old to play Little League.

“It’s different,” Guptill said. “A lot of us had never played before except in gym class. So it has been a learning experience.”

The team scheduled a half dozen games, including Monday’s homecoming game of sorts for McGreevy in Buckfield. They’ve added games when possible.

“It takes patience, but the really nice thing about coaching kids that are so new to the game is that successes come in the really short term,” McGreevy said. “You can have the goal one day of putting the bat on the ball, and a goal the next day of putting the ball in play. It’s baby steps, and the successes do come quickly, which is rewarding for the girls.”

McGreevy played as a freshman at Buckfield, but then went to the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone. The athletic program was combined with the Limestone Community School, where McGreevy played in three sports before graduating in 2000.

After college, McGreevy coached JV softball at Jay for two years and also coached JV basketball for a year. When job opportunities on Vinalhaven appeared for both her and her husband, Matt, a special education teacher, the McGreevys moved to the island.

This first season has been one of magnificent progress. She has kept the team focused on small goals, learning the game and building experience and confidence.

“A lot of them wanted to be introduced to the game,” McGreevy said. “There are a lot of kids that play softball that don’t necessarily play the other sports that Vinalhaven offers. I think it’s really good that they can participate in something else.”

It can be a challenging environment to build a program. The team play its games in the midcoast area. It leaves school at 11 a.m. to make an afternoon game off the island. Then they have to be back in time for the 4:30 p.m. ferry. Monday, the softball team traveled to Buckfield with the baseball squad for a doubleheader.

“One of the challenges island schools have is that any time you go anywhere, it’s a big production,” McGreevy said. “You have to plan on the ferry, and kids miss a lot of school on the island. So we have to work with that.”

Despite having about 60 kids in the high school, numbers haven’t been a problem. McGreevy is excited with having most of this group back and having five new players moving up through the system.

In the end, she foresees the Vikings having a formidable varsity program. She hopes that jump could come as soon as next year.

“If we can consistently keep working on our fundamentals and skills, I don’t think it will take that long to make us competitive,” she said. “I think this year’s been great. I’m really looking forward to sticking with this program and seeing lots of successes in the future. I couldn’t have a better group of girls.”