Brewer High School girls soccer coach David Hamel, who transformed a team that had won a total of 11 games in the eight seasons prior to his arrival into a consistent winner, has resigned immediately for personal reasons.
“I need to figure out a few things in my personal life right now,” said the 45-year-old Hamel, whose youthful Witches are 5-5 in Class A this season with two of the losses to undefeated Bangor.
This is his eighth season guiding the Witches.
Assistant coach Troy Gravel will take over the coaching responsibilities, according to Hamel.
Hamel will continue to teach social studies at Orono High School but said he needs time away from coaching to handle the personal matter he is dealing with.
He preferred not to elaborate on the matter at this time.
Hamel said he enjoyed his eight seasons in Brewer and that he hopes to return to coaching as soon as possible after he resolves the matter.
“I have no regrets,” said Hamel who added that he will cherish the relationships he built during his time in Brewer.
“I’m glad the program is in a good place right now,” he added.
Hamel took over as the head coach in the 2014 season and piloted Brewer to a 7-5-2 regular season record in Class A. Brewer had gone 3-51-2 in the previous three seasons and 11-97-4 over the previous eight campaigns.
That was the first in a string of five consecutive winning seasons in which the Witches went 40-25-5 during regular season play between stints in Class A and Class B.
“Dave coached our girls for eight years and raised the level of competitiveness in our program,” Brewer High athletic director Dave Utterback said. “His teams qualified for the playoffs and several girls have gone on to play college soccer as well.”
There were no Maine Principals Association-sanctioned playoffs in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
His other six teams qualified for postseason play, with three reaching the quarterfinals.