Morning Sentinel
FIELD HOCKEY: Doughty earns national honor
BY BILL STEWART Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 01/17/2009

Skowhegan Area High School field hockey coach Paula Doughty is a national coach of the year award recipient.

Again.

The National Federation of State High School Associations named Doughty its field hockey coach of the year. The organization, which governs all high school athletic associations, including the Maine Principals' Association, hands out just one national award for each sport.

"I am very touched," said Doughty, who guided the Indians to their eighth consecutive Class A state championship this fall. "This is probably one of the nicest things that's ever happened to me. I'm beyond words, and I'm not always beyond words."

It's the second national award Doughty received -- in 2004 she was named the coach of the year by the National High School Coaches Association.

"This one is a lot more special," said Doughty, referring to her most recent award. "This one is through the (Maine Principals' Association). People had to nominate me."

Doughty is a fixture on the Skowhegan sidelines, winning 11 state championships in her tenure, which began in 1974. She is a big reason 69 of her players went on to play field hockey at the collegiate level.

"I'm old school," she said. "I raise the bar, and my players are always willing to reach that bar. My kids always work really, really hard."

The players also respect Doughty.

"I think it's amazing," said junior back Makayla Hancock. "She's worked really hard for it. She said it was all because of us."

Hancock, who will be a captain next fall, added that playing for a nationally recognized coach is "pretty cool."

"It just feels great," she said. "She one of the biggest role models in my life. She's a pusher. She knows what to do to get it done. It's a lot of hard work, but I love playing for her."

The Indians this season overcame some adversity to win their eighth straight title. They saw their 28-game winning streak snapped, with a 1-0 loss to Messalonskee. The Indians also lost to the Eagles 1-0 in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A championship game.

"This year was a tough year for us," Doughty said. "We lost a couple of games but we did our best. I wanted the kids to be able to move on, to just get ready for tomorrow. That's what I wanted the kids to have."

The Indians responded by winning the Class A title with a 2-1 win against Scarborough.

"We dealt with defeat this season, but we moved on," Doughty added. "The competition and coaching gets better and better every year. It made this title even more sweet."

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com

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