In girls’ soccer, golf, girls’ gymnastics
Published in the August 11, 2016 edition.
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
WAKEFIELD — There will be three new varsity coaches in the upcoming school year at Wakefield Memorial High School. Two of those coaches are of fall sports and one is a head coach in the winter.
Stephanie Martin, Chris Keane and Brianna McNeil are the three new faces to the Warrior coaching ranks. Martin will be the varsity girls’ soccer coach, Keane is the new golf coach and McNeil is the new girls’ gymnastics coach.
They were all appointed at the end of the school year and early this summer.
Martin takes over for Jessica Marshall as head coach of the girls’ soccer team. Marshall was the varsity coach for three years and an assistant before that. Keane takes over for veteran coach Dennis Bisso who retired in May after 16 seasons as head coach. McNeil takes over for long time coach Lisa Mansfield who is not returning as well.
Martin is no stranger to Wakefield having been an assistant coach in both girls’ soccer and softball. She is also a teacher in the school system.
Coach Martin has been employed by the Wakefield Public Schools since 2007. Throughout her career in Wakefield, Martin has worked as a second grade teacher at the Dolbeare Elementary School and has also served as an assistant coach for both the girls’ soccer team and the softball team at Wakefield Memorial High School.
Martin has worked her way up the coaching ranks in Wakefield in soccer. She began as the freshman coach, was promoted to JV coach, then promoted again to assistant varsity coach and is now head varsity coach.
Prior to her teaching and coaching days in Wakefield, Martin enjoyed an illustrious playing career at Assumption College, where she captained both the Assumption College women’s soccer team and softball team, and earned All-American honors during her senior year.
Martin is the all-time leading goal scorer in Assumption College women’s soccer history. Martin is a member or the NCAA Northeast-10 Conference Athletic Hall of Fame, the Assumption College Athletic Hall of Fame and the Arlington Catholic Athletic Hall of Fame.
Martin is a well-respected member of the Wakefield Warrior family and she embodies the core values of respect and effort said Brendan Kent, K-12 Director of Athletics, Health, and Wellness for the Wakefield Public schools on his facebook post upon Martin’s appointment.
Keane is new to Wakefield but he is no stranger to golf in the Middlesex League. He is a Woburn native and part of some great Tanner golf teams when he was in high school.
Keane is an experienced golf coach. Most recently, Keane has served as the JV golf coach at Saugus High School, where he oversaw all aspects of the JV program, helped assist with the varsity program and started up a middle school golf program there.
Since 2009, Keane has worked as a golf clinic instructor and has run summer youth golf clinics through the Woburn Recreation Department and Woburn Country Club. Keane uses technology to analyze and correct his players’ swings.
A Woburn native, Keane plays daily at his hometown Woburn Country Club and is a single-digit handicap. During his playing days, Keane was a successful four-year varsity player on the Woburn High School golf team, during which time the Woburn High Tanners won four consecutive Middlesex League championships and were one of the top teams in the state each year.
Keane would like to expand and grow the golf program here in Wakefield and has aspirations of someday starting up a Wakefield JV team and some type of Wakefield youth golf program.
In addition to Keane’s golf background, he is also a very well-respected teacher and indoor and outdoor track coach at Woburn High School. Keane’s supervisors, both in Woburn and Saugus, praised him for his passion for helping children and his ability to connect with his players and students Kent said in his facebook post when Keane was appointed.
McNeil takes over a girls’ gymnastics program that is seeking its first victory in three years and which has seen a decline in numbers the past couple of seasons.
McNeil is no stranger to the Middlesex League gymnastics scene. She was a former star gymnast at Woburn High School and her mother has been the head coach at Stoneham High School for the past 18 years.
McNeil has been coaching at the Reading Gymnastics Academy for the past eight years, where she has worked with gymnasts from all around the area, including many from Wakefield. McNeil has also helped out with her alma mater Woburn High School and her mother’s Stoneham High School team during that time period as well.
McNeil is a recent graduate of Merrimack College, where she earned a degree in Psychology. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in mental health and aspires to be a school psychologist or school mental health professional said Kent on his facebook when McNeil was hired.
“I not only wanted good coaches but I wanted good people to work with the kids in the sports program,” said Kent. “All of them are a great fit and should do a great job.”
