Maine Maritime Academy

Volleyball net at the backshore beach sand court

For five months and two days, I was the head women's volleyball coach at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. I'm pausing to share this part of my story because while it did not turn out the way I planned (see: Surviving Unemployment), I am still passionate about coaching young women and helping them to become the best versions of themselves.

One of the main things that convinced me to move from South Dakota to Maine was the opportunity to work at a school with a massive STEM focus. Here, Professor Steven Baer is showing me around the wet lab where water is pumped directly from the ocean to the tank tables for student research projects.

I was really scared to completely leave my teaching position, especially with all of the adventures being virtual had allowed for me. However, I knew it was time to take the leap and I believed my new boss would support me achieving my goals. (All due credit to the original artist.)

I wanted to provide the absolute best for my team, so when the school only had headshots taken, I built out a backdrop and made sure they got a full media day. One of them was kind enough to take a few pictures of me as I was heading back into my office.

Doing anything new can be super stressful. One of the ways I love to relax is by spending time near "big water". Castine is a shore town on a peninsula off of a peninsula in downeast Maine (which, despite the name, is actually about midway up the coast).

Something I learned recruiting as the head coach was that you are selling your vision of the program and not just the school to others. It was easy to encourage young people to consider MMA as a choice for their academic and volleyball futures because it provides such an incredible return on investment for most of the 13 majors.

Castine is a super walkable town if you don't mind steep hills. Came across these giant hydrangeas on a jaunt down to the post office in town.

Getting ready for the season. There are a lot more posts like this on Instagram @mmavball. Basically redirected all my social media efforts to maintaining that page from August through December of 2024.

Stats and diagrams everywhere in my office. I was surprised by how many basic principles about the sport I still needed to teach or re-teach to college athletes. Teacher training to the rescue.

Making sure that the seniors hitting milestones got recognition.

We won the NAC East in style, at home. 

Conference championship unlocked! Buckled the trophy in to get it safely home.

Winning the conference meant we automatically qualified to play in the 2024 NCAA DIII volleyball tournament. The team went out to a fancy dinner at a restaurant in Boston's Little Italy the night before.

Our match versus MIT in the first round of the NCAA DIII tournament wasn't until 7pm, so we took a trip to a visual arts museum in Boston in the morning to do some team building. These are a magnified versions of my eye, as seen through a camera in one of the exhibits.

This photo is a metaphor for all the things I didn't see that were happening right in front of me during my tenure at MMA. I use my eyes everyday and often see them in the mirror, but there are so many things you don't notice until you pause to really look deeply at them. Even then, this is the same eye twice, projected on screens folded around a corner to look like both of my eyes. So many of my interactions at MMA were like this: an illusion based on reality.

Trying not to wallow after finding out the new AD was not going to extend me a permanent contract.

Credit to the original creator.

There were so many more positives to my time in Maine than not. Here are some glimpses of the experience that were as beautiful as volleyball life gets.

Team dinner at IHOP

Stranger Things-themed Halloween practice

So many snack stops on road trips with the team.

The view from the porch of Grace Cottage. It was a stunning property and my only regret is not being there when it was cold enough that I could have gone skating on the pond.

I hope this gives you a tiny taste of the pause my journey took in Maine. Like so much else in my life story, there was a crazy plot twist. Now, I am working on writing the next chapter (figuratively). One day, if I'm ever disciplined enough to write a book or script, this could easily be a TV series with appropriately spaced mid-season and season finale cliff hangers.

To find out what happens next, you'll have to keep coming back.