Courtesy Photo Pete Doubek announced on Thursday that he is stepping down as Alpena High School hockey coach after six seasons. Doubek led Alpena to two regional finals and 83 wins in six seasons.

Pete Doubek took over as coach of the Alpena High School hockey team hoping to make his alma mater competitive again.

Under Doubek, the Wildcats were regularly competitive, reached the regional final twice and earned some big wins over some of their closest rivals.

After giving it his all for for six seasons, Doubek has decided to step down as Alpena’s coach.

“It’s a ton of time. I love the sport and I love the kids, but I’m getting to that age where it’s been a balancing act. I still want to do stuff with my friends and family,” Doubek said.

Doubek led the Wildcats to an 18-8-2 finish this season and a regional final appearance, where they lost 2-1 to Big Rapids in overtime. The Wildcats also earned wins over Escanaba, Sault Ste. Marie and Grosse Pointe North among 18 victories and were in contention for the Big North Conference title for most of the season.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids. They gave 110 percent every time they stepped on the ice,” Doubek said. “Everyone on the team gave their best effort.”

His decision to step down didn’t come easily and Doubek said he took a month after the season to decide his future.

“Mentally, I put that off during the season because I didn’t want to put any of that on the kids,” Doubek said.

Doubek finished his Alpena tenure with an 83-68-7 record and was proud of the relationships he built as coach.

“I think coaching, what you get out of coaching is what you put into it,” Doubek said. “You’re building not just hockey players, but young men and with Emily Duncan, young women. You build relationships that last a lifetime.”

When Doubek took over as coach in 2011, he seemed like a natural choice. He earned all-state honors as a player for the Wildcats in the early 80s and helped Alpena win its first state title in 1981. He became Alpena’s fourth full-time coach in program history when he succeeded Chris Limback in June 2011.

The only person who might have needed any further convincing was Doubek himself.

“When I took the job, I didn’t know I was going to take it,” Doubek said. “I was recruited and I told (the school’s athletic department) I was going to give it all I had.”

Doubek took over as coach for the 2011-12 season and led the Wildcats to a 10-13-1 record.

The next season, Alpena made the first of two regional final appearances under Doubek and finished 14-11-1. Though they lost to Sault Ste. Marie in the regional final, the Wildcats earned arguably one of their most thrilling wins in program history when they topped Cadillac in double overtime to reach the regional final.

Last season, the Wildcats went 19-7-1, posting their highest win total since the 2006-07 season, but were upset in a pre-regional loss to the Blue Devils.