Souhegan High School athletic director Chris Lavoie had a tough decision to make this winter. Should he hire an 18-year-old woman to coach the Sabers’ Nordic skiing team or keep looking for another option.

That question alone is a tough one to make, considering the age difference between the coach and the players that will be under his or her watch. Add in the fact that the coach in question, Emma Ruddock, graduated just last year and was a teammate of some students on the team.

“We did advertise the position,” Lavoie said. “We advertised and there were no resumes or nominees coming in for the job.

“There was talk about parents working together to run things because they were afraid that there wouldn’t be a season even though canceling the season was never an option.”

Lavoie made it clear that the lack of age separation was discussed.

In the end the right decision was made. 

Some may find it a risk to hire somebody so young and not far removed from playing with a group of students that he or she was a teammate of last season. The fact remains in this case, and any other case like it, that at 18 a person is considered an adult legally. They should then have the opportunity, as was the case here, to get a job coaching high school students.

Certain issues will arise, such as, a recent grad dating a current student. In that case, the hire shouldn’t be made. But this situation was nothing but an adult woman taking on a job where she was more than qualified and the only option at the time. In what was likely a scary situation for players that might not have a season without a coach, everything worked out for the best.

Heck, she’s got the boys team fighting for a Division II title.

Tags: Chris Lavoie, Emma Ruddock, Nordic skiing, Souhegan High School