The newest Athletic Director of Andover High School is Don Doucette; he will leave his post as Athletic Director for Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School on August 20.

Doucette served Hamilton-Wenham for seven years and is excited to take the reins at a Division I school.

“I’m coming into a situation with one of the most successful programs around, and first and foremost you want to say you’re doing a terrific job here, keep doing what you’re doing,” Doucette said.

“We’ve got some terrific coaches and teams here across the board,” he continued.

Doucette has had his eye on the Andover position throughout the years.

“I almost applied for it last time it was open three or four years ago,” he said. “I decided not to because I hadn’t finished all I had set out to do in Hamilton-Wenham.”

Remarking on his time with the Generals, Doucette said, “I’m very happy about where the program is at in Hamilton-Wenham; we have done a lot of positive things.”

Moving on to a bigger program is something Doucette is anticipating with great enthusiasm.

“It’s a big time program, and to me it’s exciting to be able to work with a program like that and make it even better,” he said.

Doucette acknowledged the basketball team’s hazing scandal that took place last summer at Stonehill College and remarked, “Hazing is always a concern.”

“I’ve just been as proactive as I can be with the situation,” he continued.

Part of his plan to thwart hazing at the high school level is keeping everyone involved with the athletic program as informed as possible.

“Part of my program is informing parents, coaches, student-athletes, and everyone involved is reading out what the consequences are and how to report it,” he said.

“I read the actual state law to everyone even though people have been bored crazy with me doing that,” Doucette continued.

One of Doucette’s most impressive achievements was winning the 1988 NCAA Men’s Division II National Basketball Championship as the head coach at UMass-Lowell.  

“I coached for 25 years at the college level in mostly scholarship programs, and that was my pride and joy,” he said.

The River Hawks took down Alabama A&M, Florida Southern, and Alaska-Anchorage to take the title.

“We had six seniors and all six seniors graduated at the same time without needing additional courses over the summer,” Doucette said.

“Those were the types of student athletes we had and our priorities were established that way,” he said.

Doucette will be replacing former Andover High Athletic Director Chris Bergeron. 

Though official schedules have not yet been released, expect the fall athletic season to begin with a bang when the Golden Warriors host North Andover to kick off the 2012 football season.