Tim Smith steps down as Foxcroft Academy athletic administrator after 17 years

Tim Smith has resigned as athletic administrator at Foxcroft Academy, ending his 17-year run of guiding the sports programs at the Dover-Foxcroft school.

“It’s been coming for a few years,” he said of his decision Wednesday. “There’s a shelf life.”

Jaclyn Tourtelotte, who has been the school’s assistant athletic director, will serve as acting athletic administrator until a permanent replacement is found, Foxcroft head of school Arnold Shorey said.

The 51-year-old Smith will remain assistant head of school at his alma mater, a post he has held for more than a decade.

Photo courtesy of Foxcroft Academy
Foxcroft Academy Athletic Administrator Tim Smith is stepping down from his post..

“With my other duties at school I’m in charge of discipline and all of those things and now with coronavirus and all of the different things we have to do, it just seemed like the right time,” he said.

Smith’s decision also will eliminate conflicts between his athletic administrator’s responsibilities  and the sporting pursuits of his three children, two of whom will be attending Foxcroft Academy when classes resume.

Smith’s son Anthony will be an incoming junior this year and daughter Allie will be a first-year student at the academy. His youngest child, Julia, will be a seventh-grader at SeDoMocha Middle School in Dover-Foxcroft and, like her older siblings, is active in sports.

“It’s hard to juggle everything, and I probably in the past would put too much on Jackie because there were certain games I didn’t want to miss so she would have to stay and cover games because I was in Lincoln watching Allie play field hockey,” Smith said.

“But now if Allie has an away field hockey game and we have a home soccer game on the same day, I don’t have to stress about if I’m shirking my responsibilities at work to go to my daughter’s game.”

Smith graduated from Foxcroft Academy in 1987 and the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 1991 before working at the University of Southern Maine in various roles, including director of intramurals and as an assistant coach of the USM women’s basketball team.

Smith returned to Foxcroft Academy in 2003 as athletic administrator and director of student affairs.

“[Tim] has overseen Foxcroft Academy athletics for many years and has supported all of our athletic programs, championships and coaches of the year,” Shorey said. “There are few who can match Tim’s love for the Ponies, and I’m glad he will continue in his other roles serving the students of FA.”

Under Smith’s guidance, Foxcroft’s athletic teams won 14 state championships and 25 regional titles as well as numerous conference championships. His coaches also have received many “coach of the year” awards.

“I will miss the competition and being around the coaches on a day-to-day basis, but I will still be there to support my kids and support the Ponies,” Smith said. “I can walk away knowing I did my best for this athletic department and the fine student-athletes we’ve produced.”