Emmy Held initially had no plans to coach Mt. Blue’s Nordic ski team.

Five years later, she is trading the gig for a nursing job in Alaska and says coaching has been instrumental in finding herself as a young adult.

“The joy that (coaching) brings me, and I know that it brings the kids on my team, is the most important thing I’ve done with my life thus far,” Held said. “This accidental thing has become the most important thing I’ve done, and I wanted to find a career that could support me continuing to coach.”

Held, originally from upstate and western New York, raced for the Colby College Nordic team her freshman and sophomore years. She was forced to stop in 2015 due to health reasons, but still stayed involved in the Maine ski circuit.

After graduating from Colby in 2017, Held coached for the Quarry Road Ski Club, and worked in outdoor education and at Sugarloaf until October 2019, when Farmington community members reached out to her about the Nordic head coach position at Mt. Blue High School, which had opened earlier in the year when Claire Polfus resigned following a successful four-year stint that included three boys and two girls state team titles.

“That was the year that they really needed a coach (because) their coach had left,” Held said. “I think it was October when I first heard from them, and they didn’t have a coach yet. I was dragging my heels. I had this whole plan, you know? I knew I loved working with young people, I had loved coaching before, but I’d already turned down working for the Quarry Road team.”

Held credits the “friendly” push from longtime Farmington and Maine Nordic skiing supporter Deb Aseltine, who consistently phoned Held and — based on Held’s personality and skillset — advocated for her to lead the Cougars.

Held finally accepted the position, and since 2019 has led Mt. Blue to multiple KVAC and state titles.

The girls team won every KVAC championship during Held’s tenure and four Class A state championships (2020, ’22, ’23, ’24). The Cougars had a good chance of claiming another state title in 2021, but there were no state races that season due to COVID-19. Led by Emma Charles, who won every state race she competed in, the girls team did win the KVAC title that year.

The Mt. Blue boys placed first at KVACs Held’s final two years and second in her first three years. They were state runner-ups in 2020 then claimed the past three Class A championships.

The Cougars also earned several individual state titles under Held. Charles swept the girls state races in 2020 and 2022, and Nora McCourt did likewise this winter. Henri McCourt swept the boys races in 2023 and 2024.

While Held is proud of her skiers’ accomplishments, she’s most proud of the way her teams have come together and created a culture that, she said, celebrates and loves Nordic skiing, “because it’s fun.”

“It’s been so important to me, in healing, to not take myself too seriously in this role,” Held said. “Nordic skiing is such an intense sport. I grew up being very competitive, and I loved it. But somewhere along the line in college, and with getting sick, I did lose sight of some of that love with the sport, and the silliness and the joy.

“It’s been very healing for me to create that dynamic for the kids on the team where I want the team to be kind to each other, and to do it because they love it.”

Henri McCourt, who just completed his junior season, told the Sun Journal last month that Held was supportive and liked to talk things through with her skiers.

“She doesn’t put a ton of pressure on athletes in situations where that wouldn’t be helpful,” McCourt said. “I think she’s done a lot to really create a super positive and supportive atmosphere.”

Another major accomplishment for Held was teaming with assistant coach Shelley Joyce to be one of the first, and often the only, female coaching duo for a co-ed Nordic team.

A combination of being “from away” and a female coach often made her five-year tenure an “uphill battle,” Held said.

The Nordic ski community in Maine is small, and Held felt like she had a lot to prove because many community members doubted her ability since she did not grow up racing in this state. She said many coaches and parents did not know her ability or qualifications, and, welcomed or not, even expressed their concerns to her.

During Held and Joyce’s five years of coaching together, Joyce’s children, Jackson and Kamryn Joyce, raced for the Cougars.

Held called Joyce her “biggest support system, cheerleader and hype woman of all time.” She also said Joyce was good at keeping her level-headed at races when “older, male coaches were posturing around and making me feel a little bit less than” qualified.

“There’s a lot of people with doubts about, ‘Should two women really be coaching a boys team?’ — and, well, men coach a girls team all the time, I don’t see what the issue is,” Held said. “None of the boys on my team have ever had an issue with it.”

Held said Joyce “fills her with competence whenever I need it,” and called her the biggest key to her success.

“I think it’s cool for (the team) to see two women supporting each other, and they have different personalities but are lifting each other up (despite being) different ages,” Held said, “and still the best of friends.”

During the coronavirus-affected 2020-21 school year, Held was a substitute teacher at Mt. Blue. She ultimately realized that teaching in a classroom is not the right career for her. She is currently finishing her nursing degree at Beal University’s Wilton Campus and will graduate this spring.

Held said the thing she’ll miss most about coaching next year are the unique bonds she shared with the athletes and watching them grow into themselves from freshman to senior year.

“It’s just amazing to see what they’re doing with their lives, what their plans are, the young humans that they’re becoming and how they’ve grown as leaders in their understanding of the world and others,” Held said. “It’s really an honor to be part of facilitating some of that growth, and, also, hopefully just finding a lifelong love with the outdoors and of athletics.”

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Sun Journal Girls Alpine Skier of the Year: Katie Yeaton, Mt. Blue