HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club heard a presentation from Houlton varsity football coach Brian Reynolds during its Sept. 21 meeting. Reynolds was a guest of Rotarian Rosa McNally.
Reynolds was born in Winslow and graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1994. He moved to Houlton shortly after graduation and has been the tribal administrator for seven years.
Reynolds expanded on his introduction and spoke about his history in the sport of football. His grandfather was a well-known in Winslow as a football coach and he grew up living and breathing football.
Reynolds chose to move to Houlton and was disappointed when he realized there was no football activity. He accepted that but when he was approached by Richard Cleary about coaching football in 2006 he jumped at the chance. The first team was an eight-man team and called the “Houltonites.” This grew to an 11-man team as other towns got involved. Eventually numbers dwindled, but the sport was taken on by Houlton High School and in 2012 and was recognized as a team by the Maine High School Association. Eight games are played in a season if weather permits.
Reynolds addressed the benefits of the sport for youth. The dynamics make it an inclusionary sport fro kids and discipline is learned as well as team work. He compared a team to an eight cylinder engine with all parts being necessary and in working order. Students are held accountable and Reynolds encourages his teams to be good citizens and good students. He encourages his players to be good to everyone in their lives: parents, siblings, neighbors and fellow students.
Reynolds believes that football can change lives as it did for himself, and more recently for his son, Damon, who is a sophomore at Houlton HIgh School and strives to be an excellent student and team player. Damon has grown from a chubby fourth grader who was picked on to a confident 5-foot, 10-inch, 250-pound force on the team. He is also an honor student in the classroom.
Damon Reynolds’ goal is to show his teachers that football players can be honor students and to be an all academic player and stand in line to receive an award in that endeavor.
Coach Reynold sees that the football program has helped his son and other players. He credits football with saving his own life. Coming from a rough childhood, football gave Reynolds motivation to perform and achieve in a direction that he would not have chosen without the discipline the sport provided.
Thirty-five players are involved in Houlton where they compete as a class D team. Twenty-one players are on the junior teams and 21 are involved at the 5th and 6th grade level. All coaches volunteer their time. Game revenues make the sport self-sufficient. The average cost per year to support the teams is $11,000 and donations help to raise this funding.
HBMI provided seed money of $30,000 to the program and later built a million dollar athletic complex with a football field, a quarter mile track, lights, press box and bleachers. Reynolds invited the club to attend the Orono game at this field on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. under the lights.
When questioned by a club member about the dangers of football, Reynolds responded with a description of his weight training regimen for the players in pre-season training throughout the summer. Players are outfitted by the organization and often add their own fancy mouth guards and other equipment. He also helps out at all of the levels with the 80 kids practicing at the same time.
Reynolds has become a father figure for a lot of the players and takes that seriously in preparing them for the game and protecting them. The last football team in the town of Houlton anyone in the audience could remember a was in 1954 and only one person in the audience played football at Houlton High School.
Also during the meeting, Ellen Schneider was welcomed as a new member. Schneider is the superintendent of RSU 29. Leigh Cummings and President Jane Torres initiated Schneider’s membership and Mike Clark presented her with a Rotary coin.
Cummings mentioned that there are over 1.2 million members of Rotary world wide in 537 districts and 190 countries. Torrey Sylvester reminded the club about eliminating Polio worldwide and the efforts of all of the Rotary clubs. Houlton has 50 members who have pledged one hundred dollars to help eradicate polio. Sylvester encouraged Houlton Rotary to be at one hundred percent on this donation.
Torres reminded members about the District Governor’s Charter Night dinner on Oct. 15 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Members are encouraged to pledge and pay weekly to reach their $100 donation.
