BUCKFIELD — Once again, there’s a new softball coach at Buckfield.

Sandy Albert is the third coach the Bucks have had in as many years, and it didn’t take long for someone to bring that to her attention.

She was asked about coaching next season — on the second day of practice.

“I said, ‘It’s only the second day, but I don’t plan on going anywhere yet,’” Albert said. “I hadn’t even thought about that. These juniors haven’t had the same coach each year.”

But despite another coaching shift, there’s also a sense of familiarity. Albert grew up in Buckfield and played for the Bucks. Her father, Dan Jack, coached the team.

This year, she’s lured her dad out of retirement to be her assistant.

“We’re having a lot of fun,” Jack said. “Being with Sandy, it’s something pretty special.”

The team returns many players from last year’s club that went 6-10 in the regular season and lost in the Western D semifinals.

“It’s been really good,” Albert said. “This group of girls that we have, we have good numbers and everyone is working hard. It made my first three weeks very easy.”

Albert graduated from Buckfield in 1992 and played four years at Husson. She was involved in coaching at younger levels and even coached the first team at Central Maine Community College. She’d been away from any kind of coaching while raising a family, but was tempted to return.

“I coached a little bit in the past,” said Albert, who won two state titles playing for her father. “My daughter is a little bit older now. I knew it was open, so I thought it was time, and I took the chance.”

She also had the idea of getting her father to help. Jack was a longtime coach, but got out of the game in the early 2000s. Ken Farrington coached the team for much of the past decade and won state titles in 2007 and 2008.

“I’ve always missed it,” Jack said. “Ken has been there and had it and done a good job. I guess it was open the last year he was coaching. He kind of got called back in to coach his last year. I didn’t realize it was open.”

When Albert pitched the idea about coaching together, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“I told him that I really wanted to do it, but I really wanted him to be my assistant too,” Albert said. “So I pulled him along with me a little bit. I didn’t have to do too much. I didn’t have to talk him into it.”

He jumped at the chance.

This isn’t the first time he’s been tempted back after retiring. He left the game in 2001 after 11 years, three state titles and four regional crowns. When the program struggled to find a replacement, he returned the following spring — and won two more state titles.

“I think my eyes just lit up,” Jack said. “I knew it was going to be great. I’ve been here in the past. Some of the memories are just unbelievable. I know we have a pretty good group. I couldn’t wait.”

Though the current players were pretty young when Jack was coaching the Bucks, their parents remember those days. Some of the current players’ mothers were Albert’s teammates.

“I remember the times where I was in high school and we were successful,” Albert said. “I want the girls on this team to feel that. That’s important. It’s not that you have to win, but it feels pretty good to do pretty well.”

Both father and daughter are enjoying their returning to softball, but it is a bit of an adjustment for Jack. He was always accustomed to being the head coach. So it takes a little effort at times to remember he has a different role now.

“Every once in a while I try to catch myself trying to be the head coach,” Jack said. “I tell Sandy and I tell the girls that Sandy is the head coach. I try to run everything past her. When you’ve always done it yourself, you have to catch yourself once in a while.”

Albert admits she does enjoy the opportunity to boss her dad around a little. The two have worked well together during the preseason and have enjoyed working as a team.

“We do work really well together,” Jack said. “I think the girls can sense it. “

Part of making the job so enjoyable so far has been the commitment by the team itself. They’ve been very coachable and eager to learn.

“It’s been easy because the girls are dedicated,” Albert said. “They’ve been working hard too.”

Jack says he can see that the girls are hungry. Buckfield isn’t used to losing seasons and with Richmond graduating much of last year’s championship team, the East-West Conference and Western D is as wide open as it has been in years.

“Our team is better than some of the teams I played on and we won the state championship,” Albert said.

Many in the returning group were part of the Buckfield soccer team that reached the Western D final last fall.

Having been away from the game in recent years, Albert was pleasantly surprised to see how good even the new players are.

“We’ve got some really talented underclassmen,” Albert said. “We’ve got some freshmen and sophomores that will surprise people at how talented they really are.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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