The Scots went in-house for their new boys varsity basketball coach.

Phil Bourassa, an assistant under Rick Simonds last winter, was approved by the SAD 6 school board as the new Bonny Eagle High School coach at Monday night’s meeting. Simonds stepped down in April after coaching the team for six seasons.

It is the first head coaching position for Bourassa, 23, who teaches physical education at Bonny Eagle Middle School and also coached freshman football and freshman baseball at the high school during the 2008-09 school year.

“What Phil brings to the table is a young vitality,” said Bonny Eagle athletic director Mike LeGage. “He’s someone who connects well with student athletes. Having been a standout student athlete himself, he knows the level of commitment and dedication needed to succeed.”

Bourassa, who LeGage said was selected from a pool of “about 10” applicants, played college basketball as a guard at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, where he received all-academic honors each season and was a team captain as a senior. He graduated in 2008 with a degree in physical and health education.

Local high school sports aficionados are likely familiar with Bourassa’s stellar football and basketball careers at Biddeford High. A 2004 graduate, Bourassa won the Fitzpatrick Trophy as the Tigers quarterback. The award is presented annually to the Maine’s top senior football player. He was also a two-time SMAA all-conference selection in basketball and played in the Maine senior McDonald’s All-Star Game.

“I played football in high school and thought I was pretty successful at it, but basketball was always my passion,” Bourassa said. “I played for three seasons: winter, spring and summer. It’s definitely something that I’ve always been most comfortable and confident with.

“I played under some great coaches. I always admired their approach to the game and was, in the back of my mind, hoping to become a head coach one day. It happened sooner rather than later, that’s for sure.”

Bourassa’s high school basketball coach Mike Fecteau (who remains the coach at Biddeford) said its great to see one of his former players join the coaching ranks.

“I know it has always been a dream of his to be a coach,” Fecteau said. “Back when I coached him, I don’t think there was any other kid who was more like a coach on the court during his high school days. He was like another assistant coach out on the floor because he was so smart, he was so headsy.”

Bourassa will likely be the youngest coach in what is arguably the state’s most competitive league, but is “a young man who is wise beyond his years,” according to LeGage. Before Bonny Eagle, Bourassa was an assistant coach on a U-17 AAU basketball team while in college. While at Bonny Eagle, he said he’s learned a lot working under Simonds, football coach Kevin Cooper and baseball coach Marc Sawyer.

“It would be foolish of me not to learn from them,” Bourassa said. He added that he’s “never been around someone who knows the X-and-O component of the game better” than Simonds. He also loved hearing the coach’s stories from his more than three decades of coaching, most of which were spent at St. Joe’s College in Standish. “He was a great guy to work under, there’s no question,” Bourassa said.

While the Scots reached the tournament last season – and did so every season under Simonds – they finished 6-13 after falling in the prelim round. Their only Class A West title came back in 1995.

Bourassa said a near-term goal of his is to get players of all ages excited about basketball. “It really starts at the youth level, getting the younger kids excited about basketball again,” he said.

“You’ve got to get them excited about basketball at the young level and give them an opportunity to play year round,” he added. “In a district like this were kids are traveling so far – as opposed to a more urbanized school where kids can walk down the street and play hoops with 30 other kids – I think that’s an extreme disadvantage.

“But at the same time, there’s such a huge group of athletes here. It’s just trying to find a forum and build excitement so that they do want to play basketball every day.”

Summer basketball began Monday and Bourassa said the offseason is shaping up to be a busy one.

“We have practice all week,” he said. “We’re playing in the Deering Tip-Off Tournament this weekend. We’ll be playing in the South Portland Big Red league and the Thornton Academy Tuesday-Thursday JV league. As of right now, I haven’t hired a staff, so it will be just me this summer.”

The SMAA is seeing a bit of a youth movement in its boys basketball coaching ranks. Prior to last season, Josh Longstaff, a former Portland High assistant who played college basketball, was hired as Gorham’s coach as a 25 year old.

LeGage said young, energetic coaches with college playing experience are well suited to handle the myriad responsibilities of today’s job. He said the demands of the job have increased considerably in the past 10 years, as coaches must deal not only with their players, but parents, youth programs and boosters, as well.

Bourassa said he has high expectations for his players, but also for the parents.

“I’ve created a list of expectations and I’ll be very upfront and clear with them with what they can expect from me and what I’ll expect from them, and how they should treat our coaches and, most importantly, our players,” he said.

Fecteau believes Bourassa will be very successful in handling the pressures of coaching and building a program. He remembers back when he put Bourassa in a playoff game against South Portland when he was just a freshman.

“Was I right in throwing him in there? It was like throwing him to the wolves, but if anyone could handle the pressure, it was Phil,” Fecteau said.

Copy the Story Link