Sickels reflects on three-decade run as Freeport’s AD

Longtime Freeport athletic director Craig Sickels has many fond memories of his 29 years at the school. File photo.

While he might be counting the days until his retirement (12 and counting as of press time), that doesn’t mean that Craig Sickels, Freeport’s athletic director for nearly three decades, doesn’t have mixed feelings about saying goodbye.

As his final season dwindles into its final days, Sickels recently took some time to reflect on his tenure as the lead Falcon and the athletic program’s transformation from a small Class C school, to a Class B also-ran, to now, an enviable collection of contending teams.

“I’m a little melancholy, but after 39 years and all the COVID stuff, I think I’m ready,” said Sickels, after a recent victory by Freeport’s powerhouse girls’ lacrosse team. “This job gets more complicated every day. More nuances. I’m ready for less chaos and less stress.”

Sickels, a three-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball) at Mt. Blue High in Farmington, who went on to play varsity lacrosse at Springfield College in Massachusetts, was also a longtime boys’ basketball coach, leading Buckfield to a state title in 1992 before spending several seasons coaching the Falcons boys’ basketball team, stepping down following the 2008-09 season.

“Personally, I may have liked to continue coaching a little longer, but as a full-time AD and working a little as assistant principal on the side, to coach a varsity sport, particularly in winter when it’s the longest season, it just wasn’t in the cards,” Sickels said.

Sickels arrived as the athletic director in Freeport in 1994, replacing Dick Edgecomb, when the school competed exclusively in Class C. The Falcons now compete in Class B in most sports and are even classified in Class A in a couple. Freeport offered 24 teams back in 1994 and now offers 43.

“It’s been quite a ride from when I first got here with 276 kids in school to now 630, but it still feels like a small, tight-knit community,” Sickels said.

As Freeport grew, it moved from Class C to Class B in most sports and struggled against the likes of Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Greely and Yarmouth.

But the Falcons’ athletic program has returned to prominence in recent years, going deep in the postseason in just about every sport. A big reason for that has been the addition of the Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field complex, along with other off-campus practice facilities.

“We were OK in Class C and middle-of-the-road in Class B for awhile,” Sickels said. “We could compete a little bit with the top tier, we beat the bottom tier and we were in the middle tier. Our facilities were mediocre. Now, our facilities rival any in the state. Once the Pownal Road fields got built and the Hunter Road fields got built, we started to have a resurgence. We’ve moved into the top tier. The kids who did that, did it with Hunter Road. They grew up with four baseball fields, with four soccer fields. By the time they got to high school, they pushed us over the edge.

“(The Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field) being built was such a shot in the arm. It’s such a community thing. When you have varsity games at 3:30 in the afternoon, you’ve got 40 parents watching and that’s it. When you play at 6, you can get a good-sized crowd. That’s a difference maker. Before this, we had to move senior games, we had to move playoff games off our own field because it was unplayable. When you have two failed referendums, then you have local businessmen come together in a joint effort to create their own 501C non-profit organization, then go out and raise over two million dollars, so that instead of having a four-million dollar bond, you have a two-million dollar bond, that’s the community making it happen.”

In the fall of 1994, Sickels recalled there were 10 state championship banners, two individual championship banners and seven conference/regional championship banners hanging on the gym wall.

Today, there are 45 state championship banners, 11 individual banners (representing 66 champions), 23 conference/regional banners (representing 71 teams), one New England individual championship banner and 21 Sportsmanship banners from the Maine Principals’ Association.

“It’s not all about the winning, but it sure is fun when you see kids walking off the playing surface with big smiles,” Sickels said. “When it all comes together, it sure is rewarding to see the student-athletes and coaches as they celebrate. The same is true of the parents and spectators as they hug and high-five each other in the bleachers.”

In addition to his more-than-fulltime job at Freeport, Sickels has also been a mover and shaker in the athletic administration world (earning the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators’ Association AD of the Year award in 2009) and has influenced and inspired colleagues for decades.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Craig over the past 20 years,” said Susan Robbins, previously the athletic director at Poland and Yarmouth and currently in that role at Gray-New Gloucester. “I knew I could always count on him for sound advice or to process an issue. Perhaps more importantly to share a laugh. The job of an athletic director is a way of life. We all need colleagues that we can lean on in the good times and bad.

“Craig is simply the best of the best and I feel fortunate to have worked with him in the Western Maine Conference. Craig has been a champion of the Western Maine Conference for decades. So much so, in fact, that he will be returning in the fall to be the conference executive secretary/treasurer. Craig has a great historical perspective on the league, which is invaluable to our younger generation of athletic directors.”

Sickels has hired some top-notch coaches over the years and according to Marcia Wood, who has the girls’ lacrosse team on the brink of its first state title, he’s had her back on good days and bad.

“I left the ADs office in Scarborough saying I was done (coaching girls’ lacrosse there) and on my way home, my first call was to (Craig) and he gave me an opportunity,” said Wood, who also coaches field hockey at Freeport. “He’s been supportive of me ever since. After the tough games, he’ll call and check in and make sure I’m OK. He’s always been supportive of my team. When field hockey won regionals this year, that was special. They got him something and it was emotional.

“Craig did a lot to push for this turf. That’s a lot of hard work and contentious meetings. It’s such a thankless job. You have to make tough calls.”

Sickels hopes that when his replacement, Eric Hall, currently the AD at Lisbon High School, takes over at the end of the month, the transition will be as seamless as when he succeeded Edgecomb, who had served for more than two decades.

“For two people to hold this position for over 50 years, I think it says something about this community,” said Sickels. “(Eric) will take over with new energy, new thoughts, new ideas. That will be a shot in the arm, to have new blood, some younger blood. I told him he’s now the captain of the ship and you can steer it wherever it goes, but I’m happy to give you some background. I can’t imagine coming into this job the way it is without help. When I got here, my predecessor was still on staff, so I’d go to him with a question and he’d give me reasons why things were the way they are.”

While Sickels will now have more time to spend with his wife, Dona, and focus on his passion for the outdoors, don’t be surprised to see him remain in a key advisory role not just in the conference, but with the MIAAA and perhaps with the Maine Principals’ Association as well.

Whatever the future may hold, rest assured that his time at Freeport High School will always remain close to his heart.

“I have a lot of time invested here,” said Sickels. “I’ve enjoyed watching the kids grow and the coaches have done an outstanding job. This community has always been so supportive. I feel good. We’ve accomplished a lot. ”