Paula Doughty, the winningest and most decorated high school field hockey coach in Maine history, is out at Skowhegan.
MSAD 54 Superintendent of Schools Jonathan Moody and athletic director Nick Wallace told players during a midday meeting Friday that Doughty would not return next season, players said Tuesday.
“They sat us down and told us that she had been let go and would not be returning,” junior back Kaylea Quirion said. “They couldn’t tell us why. … There was about 18 of us that were bawling our eyes out and went home crying. We were very upset, because we didn’t have our say.”
The meeting came a day after the Skowhegan school board held an executive session to discuss a personnel matter. Moody declined comment afterward when asked if Doughty, a 20-time state champion coach, was the subject in that meeting, or if she would return as coach.
The Press Herald also asked Moody after a January board meeting if Doughty was still the coach.
“Yeah, she still is. There has been no change,” he said then.
Moody declined comment about the coaching decision Tuesday in a call with the Morning Sentinel, stating he couldn’t discuss anything. Doughty didn’t return a message seeking comment about the situation.
Quirion and junior forward and captain Faith Pease said they first heard speculation that Doughty wouldn’t be back in December, right before Christmas.
“But it wasn’t really a full thought,” Pease said. “Everyone thought, ‘They wouldn’t fire her.’ … They just thought it was another rumor.”
That build-up, though, is why Pease said she suspected what was coming when all players in the program were called into the library Friday morning.
“For most of the team it was super hurtful, because we were pretty much left in the dark,” she said. “It was super upsetting for a lot of the girls, including myself.”
The stunning news brings to an end the most successful coaching tenure in Maine field hockey history, and among the most illustrious of any high school sport ever in the state. Doughty, who began as Skowhegan’s junior varsity coach in 1974 and took over the varsity in 1981, was the first to win 500 games and then 600 in her career, finishing with 644 victories against only 97 losses, 22 ties, and 20 state championships.
Skowhegan’s teams under Doughty were tough to beat during the season, and even tougher to beat in the playoffs. Skowhegan broke through for its first title in 1991, won again in ’92 and ’98, and then began a streak of dominance in 2001 that resulted in 22 straight championship game appearances, with 17 of them resulting in crowns.
Doughty’s River Hawks, known as the Indians until 2020, had no peer. They won eight straight championships from 2001-08, then seven in eight years from 2010-17. Their 78-game winning streak, which stretched from 2010-14, is the longest in state history by 15 games. Their 57-game streak, which ended in 2009, is the fourth longest.
Five of her former players — Melissa Hancock in 2007, Nicole Sevey in 2011, Allison Lancaster in 2013, Maliea Kelso in 2018 and Bhreagh Kennedy in 2019 — won the Miss Maine Field Hockey award as the state’s best senior.
“Everything she did and she built for Skowhegan is so, so amazing for the sport and the town itself,” said Haley Carter, who graduated in 2018 and went on to play at Hofstra. “Skowhegan is a super poor and low-income area, and she gave the opportunity to girls to go play in college.”
Doughty was an offensive coach at heart, but her teams did everything well. The 2012 team, led by 48 goals from Makaela Michonski, still holds the state record for goals in a season with 155. But five of her teams allowed three goals or fewer all season, and two of her goalies, Ann Marie Provencal and Megan Hancock, are second and third all-time in shutouts with 46 and 42, respectively.
Year after year, Doughty’s River Hawks were prepared to combat the annual threat of graduation attrition. She regularly played and got key performances from underclassmen, developed backs who could help on offense, and forwards and midfielders who could get back on defense.
“She’s definitely one of the most involved coaches that’s ever to exist,” Pease said. “During field hockey season, she watches film the whole day, up until practices. She studies, she makes practice plans. She’s fully dedicated. She’s not just a coach who’s there for two hours at practice.”
The outspoken Doughty did, however, gain detractors over her career. Her fiery demeanor was occasionally a source for criticism; she drew the ire of coaches when she pushed for a return to play after 18 people were killed during the 2023 Lewiston shootings, citing a desire for high school athletes to keep up their routines.
“It’s a horrible, horrible tragedy,” Doughty said, “but I am a firm believer that life should go on. It’s very important that we keep things as normal as we can for the kids.”
Doughty’s style was intense and demanding, which some former players say they welcomed.
“At the end of the day, she was an awesome coach. I had my ups and downs with her, as every player and coach does,” said Carter, who now owns New York Elite Field Hockey. “(But) she’s tough. You have to work hard in order to win, and she made her teams work hard. I think that’s a trait that any athlete should have. If you don’t have it, you’re not a true athlete.”
But other former players said Doughty’s tough coaching style went too far. Zoey Gleason-Pina, who played at Skowhegan from 2010-13, called Doughty “manipulative” and added her coaching style was “vicious.”
“(She makes) you run until you’re puking, telling you that you must have cinder blocks on your legs because you didn’t move fast enough. (There’s) a lot of emotional and verbal abuse,” she said. “She’s very good at making you believe her tactics are what make you successful as a player.”
Gleason-Pina said she was relieved to hear Doughty and the school were parting ways, and sent Moody, the superintendent, a letter applauding the decision.
“Those girls are going to do great things,” she said. “They will be just as successful, if not more successful, because now they’re going to be uplifted.”
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Drew Bonifant can be reached at [email protected].
