Maturity of team members
helped coach through adversity
By Kevin Sjoberg
PRESQUE ISLE – Circumstances have a way of putting the proper perspective on our priorities in life.
When Presque Isle boys varsity soccer coach Scott Young and his family were forced to deal with a tough issue recently, his “second family” – the team – came through and provided much needed support.
Young and his wife Marcie’s 2-year-old daughter, Marion, had open heart surgery Sept. 22 at Maine Medical Center in Portland to repair a birth defect.
“Her recovery has been amazing and we feel very blessed as [last week’s] follow-up appointment showed everything is exactly as it should be and we are pleased it is all behind us,” he said.
Due to the surgery, Young was away for two games and a week’s worth of practices, but it was the way his assistant, Tim McCue, and team members handled the situation that thrilled the veteran coach.
“This group of teenagers have been absolutely amazing with their maturity and support of my family,” Young said. “They have been a blessing to my family and a terrific distraction to me personally.”
He added that in the time he was absent from the team, McCue stepped into the role as interim head coach and was in Young’s words “spectacular for the team and even better for me. He is a superb role model and a mentor to me and to the team.”
Young said members of the Wildcats have surprised him with their “maturity level in what really matters in life.”
“I absolutely love the fact that they know just how important family is and how they truly understand priority. In my perspective, many high school student-athletes are mostly self-centered, and within my coaching philosophy is it part of coaching to teach and model about the bigger things in life,” he said.
“Coach McCue and I have always preached about how family comes first, and when I needed to be with my family, no one questioned anything.”
Young said he knew his absence would cause a major distraction, but was proud of how team members “conducted themselves, how they continued to respect coach McCue and all that he does, and how they continue to be very supportive of my family.”
“No amount of hardware or wins will ever touch what this team has done for me and my family,” he said.
