Auburn, ME – CM Alumni, Megan Theriault, returns to the Mustangs as an assistant coach in the softball program. She will get her first taste of coaching when the Mustangs open up the semester at Mass Bay CC. Megan will serve as the pitching coach for the spring 2023 season and will assume other assistant coach duties needed for the team.
Although new to coaching, her philosophy is spot on to the value that athletics provides students. "I want to provide opportunities for players to grow as players. I am also a huge believer of going back to the basics when something isn't working the way it should. We have to be fundamentally sound in order to be successful in the harder situations," stated Megan. In order to develop her connections with her players, she hopes to lean on her experience as a player in the Mustang softball program and playing under head coach, Bruce Robertson.
As a player at CM, Megan was a YSCC All-Conference in 2019. Unfortunately, she had her career shortened in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Softball head coach, Bruce Robertson, spoke on the excitement of adding Megan to the coaching staff, "It's great to have Megan back at CM this time as a coach. Megan was my first ever recruit back in 2018 and now we have come full circle in 2023. She is back as our pitching coach and assistant coach. The best thing about Megan being a former player is she knows my expectations and my coaching style. She knows exactly what I'm thinking which makes making all the decisions really easy and seamless. Megan will fit in nicely in this role as she has good repour will all the players and they all buy into her philosophy. They all know she is not only coaching them but she lived it as well being a former pitcher and player at CM!"
Heading into the season, Megan wants the team to keep the same drive and mindset they had during the Fall season which saw the Mustangs finish with a record of 10-0. As a team, their overall goal is to win the Yankee Conference Championship and make a return to the National Tournament. Megan will look to keep the players motivated by reminding them of those end goals. With a portion of the team returning from last year's National Tournament appearance, the players will remember the feeling of coming back and not being as successful as they had wanted to be. "So, I think reminding them of that and pushing them to constantly be better than the season, game, and day before is huge," explained Megan.
In order for this to happen, communication will be key. "Communication between coaches and players as well as the communication amongst the players themselves. As well as trust amongst everyone on the team within each other and with the coaches. If they don't trust or communicate well with each other or with the coaches nothing will be done in a way that meets everyone's expectations," added Megan.
The Mustangs will look to open their Spring season at Mass Bay Community College before heading down to Myrtle Beach for a preseason tournament. Don't miss out on watching the Mustangs fight to return to the USCAA National World Series Tournament this Spring!
