Fred Williams, center, coach of Northwestern Regional High School's girls basketball team and the school's athletic director, stands with his daughters Stacey Zematis, left, and Lindsey Williams. (RA)

June 30, 2009

     Fred Williams chose his words carefully. If you know Williams, that's no surprise. He has always thought through everything; just ask those opponents who tried to solve his match-up zone for the last 34 years.
     After some consideration, he came up with “disappointing.” A rather calm reflection when you've been asked to give up something you love.
     Here's the deal with Northwestern's coaching icon, who has amassed almost 800 wins as girls basketball coach for 34 years and boys and girls soccer coach over a total of 35 years. He retired this year after 35 years as a math teacher at the school.
     The plan was to leave the classroom, not the sports programs he has spent so much time building.
     He wanted to remain as coach of both sports and as athletic director, a job he has held for the last three years. Well, two out of three ain't bad. A tad disappointing, however.
     In what should have been a no-brainer, Williams was the top pick of the Region 7 Board of Education for the new salaried position of athletic director, which is officially classified as part-time and will pay $37,000 with no benefits. By the way, why are we interviewing 10 candidates for a post Williams has already been doing for three years and done well. Just asking.
     There was one stipulation. Williams was told he had to give up one of his coaching jobs. Right arm or left arm? Lobster or prime rib? Lyndsey or Christie? How do you make that decision?
     Maybe the bigger question is why? Or even bigger, why now?
     Certainly the board is well-intentioned. Superintendent of Schools Clinton A. Montgomery told the Republican-American that the school district wants to keep the focus on supervision. Chairman Molly Sexton-Read noted some parents have expressed concern about no one being responsible for supervising coaches and teams.
     Williams is a bit miffed at that idea. After all, that has been part of his AD duties over the last three seasons. A curious comment from parents and even more curious that the mistaken thinking wasn't corrected.
     Williams has been allowed to wear the athletic director's hat for the last three years while also coaching two sports and teaching three classes. Now that he's retired from teaching and has more time, he is being asked to give up one job for supervision purposes. Huh?
     “I know the board isn't saying that I didn't do the job well,” said Williams, “but I still really don't know the reason why (the request) except that they say that if the AD isn't coaching, he can supervise better. My argument is that most of the AD work is done before games, and the seasons I have been coaching don't overlap.”
     Williams would have preferred at least a year to see if being AD and coaching two sports worked. Or to change the policy after he leaves a few years down the road since he has already been doing the job.
     Williams points to Ray Tanguay at Wolcott Tech, Bill Ryan at Thomaston and Mary Stolle at Wamogo as Berkshire League athletic directors who have coached more than one sport.
     Williams says he even appealed to Montgomery and offered to coach for free. He says he was told the union might not approve, so he offered to get paid and give the money back.
     No dice. Williams gave up girls soccer, but it was a difficult decision.
     “The reason I'm going to miss this is because of the contact with the kids,” Willliams said. “I think I have a lot to share with kids, and that sports is more than X's and O's. There is so much I still feel like I have to offer, and this limits contact.”
     In a day and age when coaches are hard to find and good coaches are a rarity, you have to question the timing of this decision. Northwestern had a guy doing the job; now he has more time, and they won't let him do what he'd been doing.
     Well-intentioned, ill-advised. At least at this time. Williams himself will hire his replacement. The unfortunate aspect is that the Highlanders already had a well-respected figure in place.