DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — It’s a campaign that during its preliminary stages was waged largely via social media.
But as the home stretch approaches, it’s also taking a turn for the more traditional — like the banner on the front lawn at Foxcroft Academy, or the words of support adorning the Center Theatre marquee downtown.
Not that Luis Ayala was around Sunday to fully appreciate the effort.
He was more than 100 miles downstate doing what he has done seemingly non-stop for the last 18 autumns: Coaching soccer.
After guiding the Foxcroft Academy boys varsity soccer squad throughout the week he was back on the pitch Sunday afternoon, coaching the Mid-Maine Revolution U12 team at a tournament in Topsham.
But whether it’s soccer in the fall or wrestling in the winter, seven-day coaching regimens are routine for Ayala, who perhaps is best known as the longtime head coach of the Foxcroft Academy wrestling team, which has amassed more than 300 victories and won six state championships under leadership.
It’s a commitment to coaching youngsters in the area that is appreciated by his players, their parents and sports enthusiasts throughout southern Piscataquis County, who not only have voted Ayala into the top 15 of U.S. Cellular’s current Most Valuable Coach contest, but made him the top vote-getter as that contest has narrowed the candidates from an original field of more than 1,000 nominees to 50 semifinalists and now to 15 finalists.
“It’s gotten bigger than I ever imagined it would be,” said Ayala, who also teaches at Foxcroft. “It’s been an honor, a very humbling experience.”
By earning a spot among the top 15, Ayala was to be presented a $5,000 check for his school during a ceremony Monday morning, and he now has the chance to win a $50,000 community grant from U.S. Cellular and Samsung if he emerges victorious in the final vote that continues until Nov. 14.
The ultimate Most Valuable Coach will be selected by total score based on finalists’ essays about how they would want the $50,000 top prize used, the evaluations of contest judges, and a new round of public voting that continues through Nov.14. People may vote once per day at https://www.themostvaluablecoach.com, with the community grant winner to be announced Nov. 20.
A film crew was on hand to tape Monday’s $5,000 presentation, a ceremony that has evolved to serve additionally as a pep rally for Foxcroft’s Senior Day boys soccer match against John Bapst of Bangor that afternoon.
“At first I was thankful to be recognized but I didn’t think that much of it,” said Ayala. “But then as I began to look into what the award entails I thought, ‘Wow, $5,000 if you get into the top 15 and then a chance at $50,000 for the school. That would be great.”
Ayala received 20.5 percent of the nationwide preliminary vote as the field was narrowed to the finalists and was one of three Maine coaches to crack the top 15.
Also advancing to the final round was James Damla, a soccer, track, skiing and robotics coach at Mount Abram High School in Salem and Mike McGraw, a veteran soccer and basketball coach at Lewiston High School.
“That says a lot about the state of Maine, where people from a lot of small towns who are willing to go out and support their coaches, their teachers,” said Ayala. “We’re not a community that’s well off, but the support that I’ve received from this community as well as from other coaches in the state of Maine has been crazy.”
While Ayala’s family, led by wife Angela, has been instrumental in spreading the word of his nomination, Ayala himself has little time to support his own cause these days.
“Soccer is a busy season,” he said.
During the fall Ayala coaches the Foxcroft Academy boys varsity team, which could host a Class B North preliminary-round contest with a victory in its regular-season finale Monday.
But he also is active with the Foxcroft Youth Soccer, both with practices two evenings a week and coaching a rec travel team on Saturdays. Then Sundays typically are dedicated to trips to southern Maine to coach two Mid-Maine Revolution club teams in premier-level statewide competition.
“This is what we have to do if we want to be competitive,” said Ayala, a native of Quito, Ecuador, who grew up in Virginia and later served as a U.S. Army combat medic who was deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
“When I first started coaching here we were having a hard time filling out varsity and JV teams, so by developing these kids early on, seeing that they have a passion for soccer and helping them grow as they continue to play is what we’ve got to do and it’s great.”
When soccer season concludes, Ayala turns his attention to wrestling. In addition to guiding the high school team, he also spearheads the town’s youth wrestling program both by coaching and leading fundraising efforts to support local youth in the sport.
Ayala said that as the Most Valuable Coach competition has heated up, he’s heard more and more from his former soccer players and wrestlers as well as from others in the community, which has made the contest all the more rewarding for him.
“I go to (Will’s) Shop ‘n Save in town and I’ll see a parent and they’ll say, ‘I’m voting for you, my whole family’s voting for you,’” he said. “Me, my wife, my two kids and my cat and dog.”
