Waterville
Morning Sentille
2006
Coach of the Year
Joel Smith
Smith molds Mt. Blue into a team
By DAVID McLAUGHLIN
Correspondent
Wednesday,
November 29, 2006
When
Joel Smith was named the Mt. Blue High School boys soccer coach six years ago, he had one goal in mind. This season the Cougars
responded to Smith with unselfish play and a team-first attitude, helping him realize his dream.
"The team concept was one of my first goals," Smith said. "I really wanted Mt. Blue soccer to be a
group of hardworking individuals coming together as a team."
This season Mt. Blue was a young, talented squad with several quality seniors that were hoping to fill
a void left by graduation losses. It took almost the entire season for the team philosophy to take hold, but when it did the
Cougars were an exciting team to watch. For his ability to instill a team philosophy and develop the Mt. Blue program over
the course of the season, Smith has been named the Morning Sentinel Boys Soccer Coach of the Year.
Ian Wilson of Messalonskee and Ryan Hurley of Winslow were also considered.
During a five-game stretch in October, Mt. Blue played incredible team soccer -- posting a 4-0-1 record
against some of the top teams in Eastern Maine Class A, including a 0-0 tie with eventual state champion Bangor.
"It was a great stretch of games," Smith said. "It was unfolding in front of my eyes, that we were
a good team."
Smith, a 1992 Mt. Blue graduate, has worked his way up through the system coaching soccer at Mt. Blue
Middle School along with directing the Farmington Recreation Department's Fall soccer program.
At each level, he has preached the team idea but until this season individual personalities seemed
to take over. This season, however, the right combination of players -- along with a desire to play together -- produced the
strongest team in Smith's tenure as coach.
"It was what we did over the course of the season," Smith said. "This team improved the most of any
team I have had."
The big change came at the top, where the seniors started to lead by example on the field and in practice.
Seniors Joe Whalen, James Brann, Devin Ferreira, Adam Wolfe, Dan Deveau, Ben Creznic and Alex Prentiss embraced the team concept
and everyone else jumped on board.
From an opening preseason loss to Cony to their semifinal, season-ending loss to Brunswick in the Eastern
Maine Class A tournament, the Cougars improved on a daily basis until their individual efforts molded together during the
final stages of the season.
"There was a huge buy-in to the team concept," Smith said. "Guys were unselfish and team driven, they
did whatever they needed to do and were happy to do it."
