Windham Eagles coach Chad Pulkkinen reflects on his team’s back-to-back state championship victories, as well as the passing of a longtime supporter.
Lakes Region Weekly
The Windham Eagles after winning their second straight statewide Class AA basketball championship. Coach Chad Pulkkinen, third from left in the back row, led them to victory both times. Contributed / Stephen Girard
In the wake of leading the Windham High School Eagles boys basketball team to their second Class AA championship against South Portland on Saturday, March 1, coach Chad Pulkkinen sat down with the Lakes Region Weekly and reflected on not only the team’s excellent season, but also the loss of a longtime supporter and role model.
Pulkkinen has lived in the Lakes Region for most of his life, playing basketball at Windham High School as part of the class of 2002. After graduation, he played professionally overseas with the Northampton Neptunes in the UK from 2007 to 2008. In 2015, he took up the role of basketball coach at his former high school, crediting this decision to the influence of the late Pat Moody.
According to Pulkkinen, Moody, who died from cancer last November, was a hugely influential supporter of the basketball team and a role model for most of the players. He said that winning their first-ever state championship last year, while Moody was undergoing treatment, was very special for them, and recalled a time where the entire team went to the hospital to ring the bell for him.
Pulkkinen recalled how Moody then went into remission for a time, and the summer following the championship, the team went out to California to do some sightseeing and team building with returning JV and varsity players from the previous season. The remission was short-lived, however, as a screening in July discovered that Moody’s cancer had returned, and he died only a couple of weeks before the start of the 2024-25 season.
Pulkkinen said that he and the team felt that they needed to honor Moody by winning again, and that he was worried that the team would be under immense pressure not just to defend their title, but also to honor the legacy of their hero. Therefore, he said that they decided to honor Moody in the way that he would have wanted, which was to play the game with joy and passion, sticking together and getting through adversity.
“Our kids are so coachable, the families are so supportive, that it just makes my job so enjoyable,” said Pulkkinen.
Pulkkinen regarded his team’s back-to-back victories as a reflection of the strength of the Windham community, recalling sold-out crowds at home and on the road, with much of the town traveling to support their players. He noted that many of his friends and acquaintances were former Eagles, so to see the team, long considered an underdog, at the top of the leaderboard these past two years is very special to him. He particularly praised players Tyrie James, Creighty Dickson and AJ Moody, the latter of whom was the son of the late Pat Moody, saying that having those players return to the starting lineup gave Windham a leg up.
He contrasted Windham’s 2025 season, where they were considered the heavy favorites, with the “underdog story” of 2024, recalling how the team they faced that year, Gorham, had previously beaten them by 26-7. This newfound status, he said, meant that the players had to adjust to a different mindset and expectations, but he praised them for keeping at bay the feelings of jealousy and selfishness that tend to arise when a team is successful.
On the way back from the big game in Portland, Pulkkinen recalled seeing fans lined up along Route 302 cheering the team on. At the high school, 1,000 people were waiting for them, including family, friends and alumni. Cake was served and attendees could take pictures with the trophy and get autographs with their favorite players.
“It was just special. For us it’s about influencing the next generation,” said Pulkkinen, who noted that young kids in Windham view his players as role models.
