CALAIS, Maine — Chris Woodside wants to make a career out of basketball so he’s giving up his coaching job.
Woodside, who guided Calais High School to the 2015 Class C state championship in his first year as the boys varsity coach at his alma mater, is leaving that post after two seasons.
“He did a good job. We’re going to miss him,” said Calais athletic administrator Randy Morrison. “I was kind of hoping he’d be here as long as I’m going to be here.”
Woodside also will leave his job at Washington County Community College where he oversees the school’s Outdoor Adventure Center and serves as assistant director of residential life.
His transition to what he hopes is basketball as a full-time vocation will begin this summer traveling around the country as a clinician for PGC, a basketball company that offers weeklong courses for developing players.
“It’s really a whole basketball education,” said Woodside, who celebrated his 30th birthday Tuesday. “They really teach about how to think the game beyond just skills. At a lot of clinics you go over a lot of skills, but their clinics involve classroom sessions, video breakdown sessions and leadership development.
“It’s not like you play games and then there’s free pool time. There’s no free pool time, it’s a true basketball education,” he said.
Woodside’s summer work with PGC will end in August.
“The next step after that isn’t fully defined yet,” said Woodside, a 2004 Calais graduate. “I’m still working on that next step, but it’s one of those things where I knew I needed to make a career transition to be doing what I really want to do.
“My ultimate goal is to be involved in basketball as a full-time career in some way, so we’ll see what the universe provides for me in that situation,” he said.
Woodside began coaching at age 18 at the travel team and AAU levels while an undergraduate at Eastern Connecticut State University.
After completing his master’s studies at the University of Connecticut in 2011, he returned Down East to work at Washington County Community College. He began coaching basketball again the following spring and in 2014 became junior varsity coach and varsity assistant under former Calais head coach Ed Leeman.
Woodside ascended to the varsity a post a year later after Leeman resigned to accept a job promotion with the Jobs For Maine Graduates program and guided a veteran Blue Devils squad to a 20-2 record and the Class C state title, a run capped off by a 57-43 win over Dirigo of Dixfield in the state final.
“Having the opportunity to coach that team at my alma mater was a dream come true,” said Woodside. “Obviously I couldn’t have asked for a better first year when it comes to winning and losing. You can’t do better than win a state championship.”
A much younger Calais squad finished 6-12 last winter, missing the final Class C North playoff berth by 0.1234 Heal points.
“I probably learned more about myself coaching this past year when we weren’t able to make the playoffs than I did the previous year,” he said.
Woodside implemented what he described as a “leadership class” with his basketball players last winter, an effort that influenced his decision to make an even greater commitment to the sport.
“We took an hour each week and did some leadership development, talking about things such as communication, overcoming adversity, how to properly use social media, and having empathy for others,” he said. “We want our athletes to be leaders, but if you never put anything into it how can you expect that to happen?”
Woodside hasn’t defined a specific job goal, leaving that to the connections he makes and the opportunities that arise.
