Brian Gouin is new athletic director in Canton

Brian Gouin is the new athletic director in Canton,. He started his job at the high school on July 1.

There is a new leader of the athletic department in Canton this fall. Brian Gouin was recently named as athletic director and supervisor of Health and Physical Education for the Canton school district.

He began his new duties in July. He replaces Kim Hirth, who spent eight years as athletic director in Canton (2017-25), the longest tenure since the late Bill Mudano, who was AD for 19 years from 1970 through 1989.

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Gouin said. “This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I am excited to be here and excited for the opportunity.”

Gouin comes to Canton after 21 years in the Madison school system where he was a coach, teacher and administrator.

He played baseball at Eastern Connecticut State and played professional baseball for two years as a pitcher in the Northern League-East in Pittsfield, Mass., and Bangor, Maine in 2002 and 2003, respectively. He pitched 12 innings for the Bridgeport Bluefish in 2017 at the age of 37.

He has also spent time as a basketball and baseball official.

The addition of duties to supervise the school’s physical education department changed the scope of the position.

“Based on the opportunity to further support our staff and students, the position was shifted to add overall supervision and evaluation for our Health and Wellness staff and programs,” said Drew DiPippo, principal at Canton High. “This shift did require that this person would need administrative certification to fulfill the responsibilities and we are excited with all that Brian offers.”

Hirth led the athletic department for eight years but was also an assistant in the department before she became athletic director in 2017.

“Kim Hirth certainly did a solid job building and sustaining our athletic programs over her nine years as Canton’s athletic director,” DiPippo said. “Kim cared a great deal about our students and their experience. She worked well with coaches and the community to create a supportive environment for all.”

In her eight years, three teams went to the Class S championship game — field hockey (2023), boys soccer (2021) and girls basketball (2019). The boys basketball team was the No. 1 seed in the 2020 Division IV tournament before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under her tenure, Canton became part of four co-op programs (football, boys hockey, girls hockey, boys tennis), giving athletes an opportunity to play sports that Canton could not support on its own.

Canton athletes have been playing football with Granby for the past five seasons, beginning in 2019. They’ve won at least eight games each season, have qualified for the CIAC playoffs each year and play one home game each fall on the turf field in Canton.

In 2020, Canton joined Newington’s boys hockey co-op program and helped the Nor’easters win a Division II state championship in 2022 and finish second in 2023.

Canton was part of a girls hockey co-op program with Suffield for three seasons and has been in a co-op boys tennis program with East Granby for the past three seasons.

Twice, Canton won the Michaels Jewelers Achievement Cup in 2017-18 and 2023-24, presented to schools with athletic programs that subscribe to the CIAC’s Class Act sportsmanship standards, empowering students to take an active role in their school climate with continued support for community service.

In 2024, Canton was also presented with the CIAC Fred Balsamo Award for Sportsmanship.

Hirth was awarded the Outstanding New Athletic Administrator Award in spring 2018 by the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors.