Casavant returns to coach at NMCC
BILL CASAVANT
PRESQUE ISLE – A familiar face on the Northern Maine Community College campus has returned to coach the college’s soccer team.
Bill Casavant of Presque Isle, who served as NMCC’s director of admissions from 1995-2008, has taken over coaching duties from Robbie Krul, who has joined the college admissions office staff as assistant director.
Casavant, who served as athletic director at the University of Maine at Presque Isle for the past two years, is well-known in both the higher education and athletic communities. Prior to leading NMCC’s admissions office, he served for 15 years as the college’s director of physical education, athletics and intramurals.
The new position for Casavant is a familiar one. He served as both a men’s soccer and men’s basketball coach for NMCC through the 1980s and early 1990s.
“I am excited about getting back into coaching college soccer and excited to be back at NMCC in this capacity. After 28 years of being a part of this campus community, this feels like home. I appreciate the opportunity that NMCC has given me to get back into coaching,” said Casavant. “I’m looking forward to this next chapter in both my life and in the future of athletics at NMCC.”
Casavant has extensive coaching experience at the high school and college level, having coached soccer, basketball and baseball at Limestone High School, and both soccer and basketball at UMPI. He is currently the assistant boys basketball coach at Caribou High School, where he works with his son, Chris, who is the head coach.
Casavant is also well-known as a game official for area sporting contests. He has umpired baseball for the past four decades and served as a soccer official for 25 years and a basketball referee for five. His voice is perhaps as well known as his face, as he was the announcer of Aroostook County high school basketball and hockey contests on radio for 25 years.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Bill Casavant back into the NMCC family. Bill brings a wealth of experience and a tradition of success to an already successful soccer program. We expect that he will be able to build upon the foundation laid by former coach Robbie Krul,” said William Egeler, NMCC’s dean of students. “Bill Casavant has an impressive resume and led prior NMCC teams to national tournaments. I am confident that our athletes will be well served and that NMCC will continue to provide a quality intercollegiate experience for those students pursuing their academic dreams with us.”
Casavant was born in Holyoke, Mass. and graduated from Holyoke High School in 1965. He earned a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education and recreation from UMPI in 1972 and a master’s degree in education from the University of Maine in 1980.
He was the recipient of the Director’s Award at NMCC, named to the UMPI Hall of Fame and received the Maine Sports Legend Award. He is also a former Maine Soccer Official of the Year.
The NMCC soccer team competes in the Yankee College Conference and is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
Casavant will lead his new team in their first game of the season on Saturday, Sept. 11 on the NMCC soccer field at 1 p.m. against familiar competition. The Falcons will play against a team of Falcon soccer alumni, some of whom Casavant coached in his first tour of duty as NMCC’s soccer coach. The game is a highlight of NMCC’s first homecoming weekend in 20 years. More than two dozen former players have agreed to return to play against this year’s team.
Also on the homecoming schedule is a home game against Yankee Conference rival Eastern Maine Community College, the first official contest of the year for the Falcons. That game will take place on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 1 p.m. on the soccer field at the Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex, adjacent to the Presque Isle Middle School.
