Page 19 - The Bell Tower - Fall 2014

ATHLETICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT FORT KENT
Delisle Joins Coaching Staff
The University of Maine at Fort Kent has named Travis Delisle the head coach of the women’s basketball team. He takes over for Bradley Holabird.
Delisle had a successful nine year stint (2004-2012) as the head coach for the varsity girls basketball team at Fort Kent High School leading the Warriors to seven Eastern Maine Tournaments. The run included six straight trips into the post- season (2005-2010) including two Eastern Maine Semifinal appearances (2006, 2007) followed by three straight trips to the quarterfinals (2008, 2009, 2010).
Delisle helped develop many high school athletes into college players includ- ing current UMFK forward Samantha Carapellucci, who he coached during her
freshmen and sophomore years at FKCHS. Carapellucci is entering her junior year with the Lady Bengals. Delisle also coached former UMFK standouts Kristen Violette (’11), as well as recent graduate Taylor Boucher (’14). He was the coach to both of his assistant coaches this season as well, Emily Pelletier and Marissa Albert.
Delisle, 40, graduated from UMFK
in 2000 with an elementary education degree and currently works as a physical education teacher for M.S.A.D. #27. He is originally from Fort Kent and was a three- sport standout at Fort Kent Community High School playing soccer, basketball, and baseball. Delisle has coached youth soccer, basketball, and baseball in the M.S.A.D. #27 district, as well as local Aroostook League and travel teams for a number of years.
A Calling to the Sport
The latest addition to the coaching staff of the University of Maine at Fort Kent is following a path for the sport that stretches back to his teen years at Maine’s Lee Academy.
Tom Bird is the new coach for the men’s basketball team, as well as the vol- leyball team. He jumped into the rigor of coaching during the fall 2014 semester, leading the volleyball team to an impres- sive 23 wins and only five losses.
Bird credits his enthusiasm for sports and specifically basketball from growing up in an athletic family. His sister was an accomplished athlete and his uncle was
a high school coach. “I knew I had to do something for basketball. I guess it was something I was destined for,” said Bird. Tom Bird has been working in the athletic department as the UMFK women’s vol- leyball coach and men’s basketball coach since late August, coming to Fort Kent following a year as director of women’s basketball operations at North Dakota
State University in Fargo, North Dakota.
“I’m a very competi-
tive person. That’s my
greatest strength and
my greatest weakness.
I hate losing,” said Bird.
With a serious demeanor
that balances his youth-
ful appearance, Bird sees
basketball as a tool for
life experiences. “As a
coach I’m a little wise beyond my years. The first sentence of my philosophy is that I want to teach life through basketball.”
Prior to NDSU, Bird served as the assis- tant video coordinator for University of Florida women’s basketball in Gainesville, Florida.
Bird, a native of Lee, Maine, brings his local ties to his new position at UMFK. Before taking the job at the University of Florida, Bird was the assistant women’s basketball coach at Thomas College (NCAA D-3) in Waterville, Maine.
Bird’s coaching career began with stints
as the men’s post graduate basketball assistant coach at Lee Academy Prep, as well as varsity boys’ basketball assistant at Lee Academy, from which he graduated high school as the third all-time lead-
ing scorer in program history. In the high school program, Bird helped his team made it to the Eastern Maine Finals and semi finals. He scored 1221 points over his high school career.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Thomas College. Bird also serves as UMFK’s sports information director.
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