PORTSMOUTH – As athletics continue to grow and become a larger part of campus life, Great Bay Community College welcomes a slate of coaches to help guide its teams and student athletes.
Great Bay has new coaches for baseball, golf, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball.
“Over the last few years, we have won first-time conference titles in volleyball, golf, and men’s basketball, and we’ve had multiple individual conference champions in track and field,” said Brian Scott, Director of Athletics and Student Engagement. “Our program is growing, and we are able to do more. We have seen record attendance at basketball games, and the same is true other sports.”
The Herons compete in the Yankee Small College Conference, fielding teams in men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, golf, baseball, and track and field.
“We’re excited how our program has grown, and we’re excited about where we’re headed,” said Scott, who previously coached the women’s basketball team and left that position to focus on his new esponsibilities. “As we become more competitive, the demands on the coaching staff increase. The coaches we have hired will play a big role in our continued development, and we are pleased to welcome them to Great Bay.”
The roster of coaches includes Jeff Pluta, baseball and golf; Anthony Loving, women’s volleyball; Martin Campbell, women’s basketball; Dawson Dickson, men’s basketball.
A search continues for a track and field coach, Scott said.
Manchester native Pluta joins GBCC as new men’s basketball coach
For Dickson, becoming the head coach of the men’s basketball team means coming home. Most recently, he was head coach at Minnesota North College-Vermilion, a National Junior College Athletic Association program in Ely, Minn. He has also been an assistant coach at Southern New Hampshire University (2021-23), Keene State College (2019-2021), and New Hampshire Technical Institute (2018-19).
The men’s team is coming off its first conference championship under former head coach Alex Burt, who left Great Bay sfor a head coaching position at Lesley University, a Division III program in Boston.
“I want to continue the success this program has had under Coach Burt, compete for conference and national championships, and help mold boys into men with life skills that set them up for future success after college and basketball,” Dickson said.
He pledged to support the student-athletes “to finish their associate degrees and to send them to four-year programs to get their bachelor’s degrees and continue playing basketball at higher levels.”
Dickson grew up in Manchester, and his parents live nearby in Wells, Maine.
“Great Bay is appealing to me to come back home and lead a men’s basketball program in my home state, work for a great athletic director in Brian Scott and be closer to friends and family,” he said.
Campbell ‘thrilled’ to lead Great Bay women’s basketball team
Campbell comes to the women’s basketball program with experience in the Yankee Small College Conference as a player. He was on the men’s basketball team at the University of Maine at Augusta in Maine.
“Great Bay entered the conference just as I graduated, so I never had the chance to play against them, but I am thrilled to be coaching there now,” Campbell said. “I am very excited to be back in the conference. I have been coaching for a while and I have always said that one day I want to get back into the conference.”
Campbell has previous women’s basketball coaching experience at Plymouth State University, Berwick Academy, and Nute High School in Milton. He also works at MapleStone School in Acton, Maine, as an educator.
Campbell’s goals are to build a winning program and culture while also instilling a sense of camaraderie among the student-athletes. He played on teams that won a conference championship and on teams that didn’t do nearly as well. He enjoyed both experiences, but his lasting memories came during the non-championship seasons.
“I want to win. I want to build a winning program, but my goal is to create the best possible experience for the athlete,” said Campbell, who inherits a team that won one game last year. “Ten years from now, I want them to be able to say that they had fun, they had a positive experience—and that we were able to build a winning program.”
Loving joins daughter on women’s volleyball team
Loving has personal connections to Great Bay and the women’s volleyball program. His two older boys went to Great Bay and then onto the University of New Hampshire, and his daughter is currently enrolled at Great Bay—and plays on the volleyball team.
He appreciates the opportunity to coach at Great Bay from the perspective of both a parent and a coach.
“Great Bay appeals to me because it is a great way to get college credits and partner with four-year colleges to make the most of your tuition money,” he said. “The appeal of coaching the volleyball team is being able to build up a program that last year didn’t win any games and played several girls who had never played volleyball before. My goal in the short term is to create a team that can compete in this conference. My mid- long-term goal is to recruit and create a team of 10 to 12 highly competitive players from local schools who can push each other for the starting positions.”
Loving coached two years of middle school volleyball in Epping and was an assistant on the high school varsity team. He recently completed first season as head coach for a 16U regional girls club team at Granite State Volleyball Club.
“The opportunity gives me the chance to create a program that is successful enough to create a desire among student athletes to come to Great Bay and play on a winning team,” he said.
Pluta pulling double duty as baseball and golf coach
Pluta joined Great Bay last fall and assembled a baseball team for an abbreviated schedule of games. He is recruiting players to fill out the roster to compete in a 35-to 40-game schedule.
Before joining Great Bay, he was the hitting coach at NCAA Division III Plattsburg State University in New York, head coach at Smith Academy in Hatfield, Mass., and spent 10 years coaching at the high school level in Massachusetts.
“Great Bay has been great,” said Pluta, who has also taught at Dover High School. “The support from Brian Scott and the school couldn’t be better, and we are looking to make a name for ourselves and take a big jump this year.”
Pluta, who will also coach the golf team, said he was drawn to the opportunity to “build something from the ground up. I am entrepreneurial by nature having started and grown two businesses, so I like the idea of advancement through culture creation. My goal for the program during this past year was to have enough players to play a few games, develop good habits for the program, and recruit a team for the 2025-26 season.”
To learn more about GBCC’s Athletic Programs visit: https://www.greatbay.edu/student-life/athletics-2/ or contact GBCCAthletics@ccsnh.edu.