When Westbrook High School announced last year that Gary Groves was taking over as athletic director, it seemed a perfect fit. Here was a guy with experience in the field who grew up in the city and is an alumnus of the school.

But now, less than a year later, the school is again looking to fill the A. D. position, as Groves has accepted the same job at Deering High School. There is a good deal of discussion in the community as to what is behind the move, but the former Blue Blazes football star said it was just too difficult to put some distance between work and the rest of his life.

“I am a very, very private person,” he said, “and what I have found, unfortunately, is that – growing up in the community here and knowing so many people like I do – I just have not been able to get away from the job.”

Groves said that, even more than when he was a city councilor in Westbrook, people constantly would stop him in public or give him a call.

“We really can’t go anywhere, whether it’s down to the grocery store with my wife or out to have dinner. I certainly had some phone calls at the house. It’s a 24/7 situation.

“People are passionate about athletics, and they’re emotional about it. When you have a son or daughter participating, you’re passionate about sports, and people want to be heard. It was just very difficult to get away from it.”

Marc Gousse, the principal of Westbrook High School, hopes to dispel any suggestion that Groves’ move is the result of rancor between him and the A. D.

“There’s a lot of speculation as to why Gary is leaving the position, and I’m troubled by some of the things I have heard indirectly,” said Gousse. “I wanted to be absolutely, unequivocally clear that between Gary and I, both professionally and personally, we’re OK. We work well together, and I’m not aware of any rifts we’ve ever had.”

Members of the city’s school committee have said they were surprised by Groves’ decision and disappointed that he appears to be evading their requests to sit down to discuss the move with them.

“It was shocking that he’s leaving after eight months. Everyone was really pleased with his performance,” said Colleen Hilton, the board’s chairperson. “I reached out (to set up a meeting), and he’s not taken me up on two attempts.”

“I wish he would have gone about it a little differently,” committee member Tim Crellin said. “We didn’t get any face time with Gary, though we requested it. It left a bad taste in my mouth.”

Hilton and Crellin dismissed talk that the school committee was “micromanaging” the athletic department. Neither could remember a single instance in which the board overruled or didn’t back up Groves. Gousse and Groves echoed that point and added that Superintendent Stan Sawyer has been equally supportive.

“I didn’t have any situations here that I brought something forward that was appealed and I wasn’t supported,” Groves said. “We had an issue early (in the school year), and Marc and I met on it. It went to the superintendent’s office, and the superintendent was supportive of the decision that we made.”

Groves, who was the A.D. at Portland High School for five years before coming to Westbrook, starts his new job at Deering on July 1. Gousse said that Westbrook is “aggressively” pursuing a replacement.

“We have a candidate pool that’s assembled,” the principal said, “and we hope to have somebody on board, with school committee approval, by August.”

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