Walter Polky has resigned as varsity football head coach at Spruce Mountain High School.
Polky stepped down before Tuesday’s practice. The Phoenix play a home game against Poland on Friday night.
Assistant coach David Frey will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The Phoenix are 2-2 and ranked sixth in the Class C South Crabtree points standings. They won their last game, 51-6, at Gray-New Gloucester last Friday.
Polky declined to give specific reasons for his resignation, terming the decision “mutual” between himself and school administration.
“I’m not getting into detail because there’s a lot of nonsense,” he said.
Polky was in his fifth year as Spruce Mountain’s head coach. He compiled a 24-17 record. The Phoenix reached the Class C South quarterfinals last year and semifinals in 2013 and 2014.
Spruce Mountain athletic director James Black referred questions to RSU 73 Superintendent Kenneth Healey, who confirmed the school district received Polky’s verbal resignation but had not yet received a formal written resignation. He declined further comment, citing employee confidentiality.
Polky, 33, was the second coach in the school’s history. He served as an assistant coach at Bates before taking his first head coaching job at Spruce Mountain.
“In my five years there, we’ve done a lot of positive things,” he said. “We’ve helped kids on and off the field. We’ve helped them get into college and trade schools and we’ve won some football games here and there.”
“We had to teach,” he added. “We had to get rid of the stigma of Jay and Livermore Falls (not being able to play on teams together after the schools merged) and brought Spruce Mountain teams together. We helped our kids as much as we could. I can say that we left the situation better than when we first got there.”
Polky attended and played football at Winthrop High School, starring on its 2000 state championship team. He went on to play one year at Bridgton Academy, then played at Division II Southern Connecticut State.
He is a Fayette native who grew up playing youth football in Livermore Falls and Jay and watched his older brothers play football for Livermore Falls High School.
“I’ve been a part of a team since I was eight years old,” he said. “I started playing football in that area, started watching football in that area when my brothers played. It’s always been a special place for me.”
Polky said he is thankful for support he has received from parents, former players, fellow coaches and his family. He said he did not speak with the team prior to resigning but would like the opportunity.
“Like I’ve always been, I would be forthright and I would tell them the situation,” said Polky, who added he wasn’t sure at this time whether he would like to return to coaching. “I’ve never held anything back. They deserve the truth.”
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