“I’m evolving my career and moving it in a different direction, but it’s exciting,” Kevin Marcoux, ELHS and ELMS’s new athletic director, said. After working at Killingly for 16 years, five of which were spent as their athletic director, Mr. Marcoux is excited to take over a much bigger athletic program.
Mr. Marcoux explains he doesn’t want to completely change the systems already in place at ELHS, but make them better and add his own personal touch.
“I’m not a micromanager, I’m a facilitator, an observer,” Mr. Marcoux said. He has plenty of big ideas on how to improve not only an athlete’s experience at ELHS but also the spectators’ experience.
He plans on having things such as fireworks for the football team’s entrance, a cannon to sound off when the football team scores, and installing spotlights in the North Gym to use when introducing our teams. Though he has big ideas, he wants students to give him their ideas to include in improving the athletic department. Mr. Marcoux explains that he is very open to student suggestions and wants to see what ideas he can make happen. He’s not fully acquainted with ELHS’s student athletes but he plans to be more involved by attending all the games he can and being with players on the sidelines.
“It’s not my show, I’m here to facilitate and bounce ideas back. It’s whatever the kids and the teams, players and the leaders really want; they share their ideas with me and I see if we can make it happen,” Mr. Marcoux said.
Mr. Marcoux also plans to start the Class Act Leadership Council, or CALC. Juniors and seniors involved with athletics at ELHS can join. They will meet about once every two weeks to talk about East Lyme athletics and see what they can do to improve ELHS, not only for athletes but for those watching the games.
He also plans to connect current athletes at ELHS with future and past athletes. Mr. Marcoux is coordinating for the 2003 football team that won the state championship to come and form connections with the current players, to preserve their legacy and give the current players someone to look up to. Mr. Marcoux wants to connect with students and is excited to do so, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about how others view East Lyme athletics.
“I want our East Lyme kids representing themselves very well, in school, out of school, at visitor competition, and also in the community,” Mr. Marcoux said. That’s part of the reason he wants to start CALC, to make sure there are always leaders in the crowd. Mr. Marcoux also has a large social media presence to help highlight student-athletes at ELHS. He recently started the @elpsathletics page on Instagram and will be posting pictures of students playing, highlighting the great work they’re doing; he also will promote games throughout the different sports seasons.
Mr. Marcoux plans on getting the community involved to rally around ELHS and its athletes, and also to help raise funds for all of the new ideas he brings to the table.
Back at Killingly, he put together a golf tournament every summer that local businesses could participate in to raise funds. He also plans to have local businesses display signs on the fence of the turf field for a fee.
Mr. Marcoux is also the athletic director for ELMS, while he has bigger plans for ELHS, he is working on ways to expand the sports scene at the middle school.
Mr. Marcoux pushes his philosophy: “You have to outwork everybody else.” He plans on sticking to it to make ELHS athletics an unforgettable experience for everyone.
