Wilson accepts position with the MHSA

Former Polson High School football coach Scott Wilson resigned from his post as Polson’s High School principal this spring to accept a new position with the Montana High School Association as one of the assistant directors of the MHSA.

Wilson was the Pirates head football coach from 2000-2018 before being succeeded by current Polson coach Pat Danley. He was the interim principal during the 2016-2017 season before being officially named the principal during the 2017-2018 season and said working with the MHSA was an opportunity he couldn’t overlook.

“The opportunity to work with the MHSA doesn’t come up very often and that is something that I’ve always enjoyed doing is working with the athletic programs and activities,” Wilson said. “When the opportunity came up this spring, I sat down and did some thinking. I decided to apply and see what happens.”

Wilson received the notification about the position opening in the spring of 2018.

“With the MHSA having direct ties to the school, I got a memo that one of the former workers at the MHSA was retiring and later on got the posting in an e-mail,” Wilson said. “In order to apply for the job, that is kind of how I heard about it. I knew the guys and gals that work over there at the MHSA. I’ve always worked well with them and my current co-workers are going to be a key part of the transition. I can also lean on them when I need to during the learning process.”

Wilson will be one of the compliance officers for Title IX and will oversee soccer, track and field, the music portion, speech & debate and drama portions of the MHSA.

“So far, the transition is good but there are a lot of things that I have to learn, even though I am familiar with the rules and regulations with the MHSA,” Wilson said. “There is still a learning curve just like any new job.”

Despite the learning curve, Wilson said the transition from Polson High to the MHSA is positive.

“Anytime you take on a new challenge it can be fun to learn the ins and outs and how things work,” Wilson said. “I look forward to working with the administrations and coaches throughout the state and put a lot of my knowledge to use in learning my new position. There are people very involved with the MHSA administration and coaches that are good resources that will help me transition into my new position.”

During the transition phase of his job, Wilson said he would be commuting from Helena back to Polson, as well as traveling all over the region and the state of Montana.

“I’ll be doing some commuting because there are times that I’ll be traveling to different clinics and conferences and obviously for state tournaments,” Wilson said. “It’ll be a change but I’ll still be in Polson for lots of things and look forward to still being part of the Polson community.”

Wilson, who has two decades of coaching experience and will be one of two assistant directors to the director and associate director, said he is excited to return to the sports realm.

“I’ve always been involved in sports activities and that has always been one of my passions that I looked forward to working with in some capacity,” Wilson said. “It was a good opportunity and is hopefully going to be an asset for people involved with MHSA activities once I get more familiar with the job.”