Whenever he shows up at a hockey rink next winter, Aaron Rand will get to concentrate on being a father and a fan.

He knows that is easier said than done.

“I’ll probably have to find my own spot in the corner so I don’t have to listen to all the other parents,” Rand quipped.

Rand has resigned his post as head coach of the cooperative boys’ puck program at Gray-New Gloucester and Poland high schools after six seasons.

The combined team — dubbed the Patriotic Knights, a combination of the two schools’ nicknames — advanced to the Eastern Class A playoffs four of those years. Competing with only four seniors, they dipped to 3-14-1 this winter.

Like many departing coaches, Rand cited family considerations as a primary factor.

One of G-NG/Poland’s top players this past season was his son, Nevin, a junior who tied for the team lead with nine assists.

“I got remarried a little over a year ago,” Rand said. “I’d like to spend more time with her, and it seemed like the right time to sit back and be able to watch our last child play his final season.”

Prior to his stint with G-NG/Poland, Rand was an assistant coach at Edward Little for two years.

He also coached girls’ soccer for six years at Poland and helped out with the softball team.

“It’s in my blood,” Rand said. “I’m not going to close that door completely. It’s going to be at least the one year and then we’ll see what happens.”

Coaching the collaborative hockey program, one of seven in the state at the Class A level, required some finesse.

G-NG/Poland had two different home rinks during Rand’s tenure, hosting games at both Hebron Academy’s Robinson Arena and at Ingersoll Arena in Auburn.

Additionally, there was the challenge of bringing together athletes from two schools that have been groomed as natural rivals, being neighbors on Route 26.

“It had its challenges with two administrations and two sets of rules and traveling to games from two different schools,” he said. “Once the kids came together for tryouts, all that stuff kind of went away. They wanted to kill each other in baseball, basketball and football, but when it came to hockey they were good teammates.”

One aspect that wasn’t challenging for Rand was coaching his son. He had previously coached his daughters in soccer.

“It was very easy,” Rand said. “He’s a very coachable kid. He didn’t require much attention.”

The Patriotic Knights were almost evenly split between the two schools most years. In the recently completed campaign, Poland students outnumbered their peers from Gray-New Gloucester 14 to 6.

In addition to Nevin Rand, next year’s club is expected to welcome back the two leading goal-scorers, Ethan Cailler, who will be a junior, and Kaleb Bridgham, soon to be a senior.

“Our kids always worked hard,” Rand said of the program he leaves behind. “We were a program that I think represented the two schools very well, even if we weren’t always the most talented team on the ice.”

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