Old Town High School soccer enters a new chapter this fall, as the Coyotes have hired two new head coaches for their girls and boys teams.
Mentoring the girls is Boston-born Chris Wesley, who previously coached in the Corinth and Dover-Foxcroft areas for 18 years before moving to Milford to become the Old Town-Orono YMCA’s Youth Sports Director in 2022.
Leading the boys is Connecticut-born Josh Bousquet, who previously played at the NCAA Division-II level and has coached club soccer in Maine for the past decade, for programs like Seacoast United, Acadia Fire and the Bangor Soccer Club.
Wesley and Bousquet inherit two teams at very different stages of development, with the girls knocking on the door to a regional title and the boys needing a full rebuild. In the past three seasons, they have compiled 32-13-4 and 12-26-3 overall records, respectively — the girls were regional finalists in 2022, while the boys have failed to reach the regional quarterfinals since 2018.
Wesley considers himself a players’ coach, and thinks a championship is within reach.
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“Teamwork and collaboration is everything. I want to make sure they want to be here, and make sure practice is structured so they’re not surprised by anything in games,” Wesley said. “Communication is essential for me. Our formation will be aggressive, and I think we should be able to put up goals this year. I haven’t had this much talent in a long time.”
At Foxcroft, Wesley turned a program that hadn’t won a single game in four years into a squad that made five consecutive playoff appearances. He won Penobscot Valley Conference Class B girls Coach of the Year in 2018.
“Class B is tough, and you have to bring it every game,” Wesley said. “We have six seniors and nine juniors, so they’ve been through the trenches and know what it’s gonna take. We could go until November.”
The girls are coming off a season under Eric Damboise in which they earned the No. 6 seed in Class B North, and ultimately lost 1-0 to eventual regional champions Ellsworth in the regional quarterfinals. Their season starts back up with a home game versus MDI at 6 p.m on Sept. 12.
Bousquet is a die-hard soccer fan, and refers to the sport by its worldwide name, football. He wants to foster more passion for the game in the Old Town community.
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“I was born and bred a football player. I watch it every day — if it was a religion, it would be mine,” said Bousquet. “This program is a work in progress, and I want to get people excited about football. I want to grow the game.”
Bousquet has family ties to Old Town soccer in his daughter Rhiannon (a senior on the girls team) and older brother Jeremy (the high school’s Athletic Director, who was not involved in the hiring process).
“I’ve been watching Old Town for the past few years, and wanted to get involved,” coach Bousquet said. “There’s a lot of work to do, [in] starting camps and a feeder program. The basics should be fundamental at the high school level.”
The boys are coming off a 2023 campaign under Mark Graffam in which they finished with the No. 12 seed in Class B North and lost 4-0 to No. 5 Gardiner in the preliminary rounds. They will hit the ground running at home versus reigning regional finalists Ellsworth at 6 p.m. on Sept. 5.
