WINDSOR — The last game the Windsor High girls basketball team played turned out to be the last game Bruce Mackay coached.
Mackay informed Windsor athletic director Jim Taft on Saturday that he wouldn’t be returning this winter to guide the Yellowjackets, who held their first skills and drills workout on Monday. In a phone interview, Mackay cited the COVID-19 pandemic and his own health as primary reasons for retiring from Windsor.
“I waited mostly because it’s a decision that didn’t come easily,” the 73-year-old Mackay said. “I’ve put in a lot of time in basketball, I love the kids, but at the same time there’s COVID, I’m diabetic and I’m getting up in age. I didn’t feel comfortable coaching and then coming home to my family.”
Kabray Rockwood, Mackay’s junior varsity assistant the last four years, will coach the Jacks this winter whenever Vermont authorities approve the start of competition.
Mackay enjoyed consistent success at Windsor, winning five VPA Division III state championships over 14 seasons. He posted a 229-92 win-loss record in his career with the Jacks, one that ultimately ended incomplete.
Windsor and Thetford Academy were on the cusp of renewing their state tournament rivalry on March 12 when the Vermont Principals Association canceled its remaining winter playoff contests because of the pandemic. The two rivals eventually joined Oxbow and Lake Region as co-champions.
Mackey’s teams collided with Eric Ward’s Panthers four times in the previous five years, splitting state title matchups in 2017 and ’18. Mackay had a similar stretch with Lake Region at the outset of his Windsor tenure, beating the Rangers three times in four championship tilts between 2007 and 2011.
“It was a very last-minute decision,” Windsor assistant athletic director Andy Tufts said. “It really came down to a potential health issue, primarily. Bruce is not a spring chicken; he’s dealt with his share of health things at his age. I think that was the primary driver. Then you add the complications of trying to coach under this COVID restrictions; it makes for a much more difficult set of circumstances.”
Mackay has spent springs in Naples, Fla., with his wife, Jean, since retiring from full-time work, usually leaving shortly after basketball wraps up and returning in June. As the pandemic grew, Mackay discovered he was better off staying down south, where he lives on a golf course and had more freedom of movement. He didn’t return to Windsor until shortly before Thanksgiving.
Tufts said Rockwood will be an interim replacement for now, with the possibility that Windsor will open the job to other applicants later this year. Mackay said he may return to Florida soon, and he isn’t against the idea of helping a basketball program down there.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.
Correction
Jim Taft is Windsor High School’s athletic director. An earlier version of this story reported his last name incorrectly.