Unfortunately, for many of us, the summer season is quickly coming to an end. The warm weather — even with the humidity — will soon be wishful thinking. But at the other end of the spectrum, the beginning of another school year is ready to get underway, and with it follows high school sports. For local sports fans, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Marblehead High Director of Athletics Kent Wheeler can’t wait to start his third year as the Magicians sports boss, and in the following text here’s a who’s who and what’s what on what’s going on this fall.
For instance, Marblehead High will have over 65 teams this year, and 28 of them are on the varsity level. Over 80% of the student body participate in athletics, or approximately 700 of that population. A total of 150 more athletes play on the middle school level. They are all impressive numbers to be sure. There is also no shortage of instructors for these players. The MHS athletic department employs 130 coaches, and over half of them are on the varsity teams with college experience. All of this coaching has certainly paid off over the past two years, with more than 10% of the graduating seniors going on to play varsity sports in college.
Wheeler specifically listed all of his fall head coaches this year on both the high school and middle school levels, which includes Brian Heenan (varsity and JV boys cross-country), Will Herlihy (varsity and JV girls cross-country), Kylynn McKinley (middle school boys, girls cross-country), Elmer Magana (varsity boys soccer), Connor Ryan (JV boys soccer), Chris Cifuni (JV2 boys soccer), Lisa Wales (varsity girls soccer), Phill Witt (JV girls soccer), Tayla O’Leary (JV2 girls soccer), Jim Rudloff (varsity and JV football), Samantha Klipper (varsity cheerleading), Savannah Mathers (JV cheerleading), Alison Carey (varsity field hockey), Charlotte Plakens (JV field hockey), Tawny Callaghan (middle school field hockey), Bob Green (varsity golf), Bjorn Plus (JV golf), Tracey Lichtig (unified basketball), Shelley Burns (varsity volleyball), Annie Kay (JV volleyball), Ari Nass (JV2 volleyball), Stacey Faris (middle school intramural volleyball) and Sue Guertin (middle school intramural swimming).
There will be no shortage of athletes for these coaches to teach this fall, but there’s still time to sign up for one of the above-mentioned sports. The registration link for MHS and middle school sports is on the athletic department’s website, and has been available since early July.
“We’d like to close registration by Thursday, Aug. 20, at noon, so we have some time to finalize rosters before (practice) begins,” said Wheeler. “All student-athletes are required to have an approved registration that includes a physical dated on or after July 24, 2025,” said Wheeler. Here is the link to the website to still register: marbleheadschools.org/students-families/athletics.
All fall high school teams are scheduled to begin practice on Monday, Aug. 24. The first day of middle school practice is Sept. 8. Times and locations for the first day of practice on Aug. 24 are listed on the athletic department’s website.
New year brings renewed excitement, challenges
Wheeler can’t wait to begin another year as the athletic department’s sports boss. “The start of a new school year is always exciting,” he said. “We had a great fall season last year, and we are looking forward to more of the same this year. We have some outstanding experienced coaches, as well as some new coaches starting this fall. The kids I have seen in the Recreation and Parks programs this summer are also excited about the start of the fall season. There’s a lot of positive energy, and it should be a great ride.”
There has to be that love for the job to compensate for the long hours it entails daily, and Wheeler certainly has it. “I have always been involved with athletics, (because) I enjoy being around kids, and that’s what I like best about being the athletic director,” he said. “During the school year, the job never ends, and the hours add up fast. It can be difficult to manage, but I’m fortunate that I live in town and have had Mark Tarmey working with me as the assistant athletic director (for the past two years), and now Christine Silva since Mark retired (last March). I couldn’t do (this job) without them and a lot of passionate coaches.”
Wheeler is proud of many initiatives that have been started under his watch as athletic director. “When I first started, I asked all the kids why we have sports in school? The answer, of course, is because athletics is co-curricular, and it teaches life lessons and values that some students (can’t) get in the classroom,” he said. “I have preached the values of integrity, teamwork, responsibility, commitment, respect and sportsmanship at every opportunity over the years. With that in mind, we started the Captains Leadership Council, and as a result I believe that we have developed a positive culture of community in the athletic department. We also have a great team of coaches and outstanding student-athletes, who embrace these values and use them to drive success on and off their (fields of endeavor), and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Taking stock on the future
Like any good organization, there are goals to be reached every year.
“We have a mission statement centered on our core values which I mentioned earlier — and on preparing our student-athletes for life after high school,” Wheeler said. “I meet with all of the head coaches before each season begins in order to set team goals, and then we have a postseason review meeting to evaluate them. These goals and evaluations are specific to a coach or team, and will take into consideration feedback received throughout the season. Athletics at all levels are rapidly changing. Between club sports, private school options and the push toward college athletics, student-athletes have more choices than ever before. To maintain our athletic participation and our ability to compete, we need to keep more Marblehead student-athletes in Marblehead, and focused on Marblehead athletics. We send a good number of student-athletes on to play college sports, while also sending them to some of the best schools in the country (for academics). But we just don’t promote either enough. We had a coaches advisory meeting at the end of (this past school year), and in it we outlined our strategic priorities. We have to do a better job promoting our coaches, facilities and program successes, as well as our combined athletic and academic accomplishments. This year, we are going to focus on the 4 C’s: Coaches, Commitment, Competition and Choices. There is more to it than that, but I will be talking a lot about the 4 C’s (starting) this fall.”
