Throughout the last three years, the Marblehead High School boys hockey team has compiled a 40-18-7 regular season record under the direction of coach Mark Marfione. They were also 7-2 in the postseason, which included winning the program’s second state title in 2024, some 13 years after its history-making campaign.
But, despite all of this success, there will be a new coach in charge of the Headers for the 2025-26 season after Marfione announced that he was stepping down earlier this month. Marfione made the tough decision on the heels of accepting his new job at Brookline High School as its special education team facilitator. He’ll also take over the school’s hockey program. The decision was made easier, because of the commute. “I live in Somerville, so it’s about half the commute or less than going to Marblehead,” Marfione said.
Marfione won’t soon forget the Marblehead experience, and would like to thank many in this community for their help in making him feel right at home, including his assistant coaches – Liam Gillis, Kyle Koopman and Tim Kalinowski – former athletic director Greg Ceglarski and current AD Kent Wheeler, and assistant athletic director Mark Tarmey, not to mention all of his players and their parents.
“Here in Marblehead, I had some of the most coachable and hard-working players that I have ever had,” said Marfione. “They all had a team-first mentality. We had a lot of special players, but I don’t want to single anyone out. They all did the job for me.”
Marfione says that Marblehead is a “good hockey town with good youth programs,” while adding, “I was lucky to come into this environment.”
The former Headers coach did single out the seniors that were on his first roster. “They made it an easy transition for me, and I also think they laid the foundation for the state championship team the following year,” Marfione said.
Marfione had much to say on the values of being a Marblehead High hockey player. “I know there’s a lot of pressure on kids to play elsewhere, but I believe playing here at the high school is the best option for the majority of them,” he said. “It’s not just affordable, but the player development is also great, because of the coaches whose only mission is to build a team, while developing them into young men,” he said. “I think when kids go to a prep school or play junior hockey they get treated more like replaceable assets, and those in charge of these programs are only interested in their own personal gain. But if they play at the high school, it costs only a couple of hundred bucks for 22 games and 50-plus practices, not to mention the opportunity to play in front of the home town, while representing your own local public high school. On the other hand, those other programs charge several thousand dollars for less ice time.”
Even though he obviously won’t have a say in his successor, Marfione did offer some thoughts on the possibility of his assistants applying for the job. “I don’t know if they applied for it or not, but any one of them would do a great job replacing me as the varsity head coach,” he said.
When reached for comment, Wheeler told the Current that the search for a new boys varsity head coach is now underway, while also commenting on the last three years under Marfione’s watch. “Mark did an outstanding job here, and we wish him the best of luck in Brookline,” he said. “We are (now) opening up a search for a new boys varsity head hockey coach.”
