Brendan Kent, Wakefield’s K-12 Director of Athletics, Health and Wellness, recently resigned from his post to accept a position in another school district. The following is a letter from Kent to Wakefield:
To the Wakefield Community,
After working in Wakefield for nearly 10 years, I have decided to step down from my position as Director of Athletics, Health and Wellness for the Wakefield Public Schools, to become an Assistant Principal in another school district. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Wakefield community for your amazing support over the past decade.
In 2015, School Superintendent Dr. Steve Zrike, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kim Smith, and Principal Rich Metropolis took a chance on an unproven young “kid” from Melrose to become the next Athletic Director at Wakefield High School. I want to thank them and the rest of the hiring committee for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. Hailing from the dreaded arch-rival Melrose High School, I wasn’t quite sure how I would be welcomed in Warrior Country, just north of the Melrose border. Sure, there was plenty of playful banter and good-natured ribbing during my first few months on the job, but it was all in good fun and I actually enjoyed the constant barrage of Melrose jokes at the time. It helped lighten the mood, and I knew it was in good spirits. The truth is that you all welcomed me into your community with open arms, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciated that. Within no time, you made me feel like I was a member of your Wakefield Warrior Family. I use the word “family,” because that is truly what it felt like to me; a family.
Over the past decade, our Wakefield High sports teams have experienced a tremendous amount of success, winning numerous State Championships, League Championship, and breaking several all-time school records. You should all be proud of this, because you all played a role in our success, whether you know it or not. Like many things in life, these accomplishments were a total team effort; or in this case, a total community effort. While our incredible student-athletes and coaches deserve the bulk of the credit, the Wakefield community contributed to our success in a variety of ways.
BRENDAN KENT poses with three 2024 wrestling captains after they each won their 100th career match. Pictured from left to right is Kent, Andrew Valley, Sean Callanan and Zach Arria.
In my experiences, Steve Maio and the rest of our local politicians have always been extremely supportive of our high school and youth athletic programs. I have witnessed first-hand a lot of the behind-the-scenes work they do to make sure that our high school and youth sports programs have everything that they need to be successful. All of our town’s various departments have also been a pleasure to work with over the years. Our DPW and Fields Crew led by Dennis Fazio have been tremendous. They always have our fields in top-notch condition, and if we ever have an issue, they are quick to fix it. Our Recreation Department, led by Dan McGrath, has been so helpful over the years, helping to create a bridge between our high school sports teams and the youth sports teams in town. I can say the same thing about any of our Town’s various departments; from the Police Department, to the Fire Departments, to the Gas and Light Department and every other department in Wakefield — the collaboration over the past 10 years has been tremendous. Wakefield truly is a special place. Many of the people that work for the town grew up in Wakefield, attended Wakefield High School, and are now raising their own children here. So they are fully invested in the town, and they truly care about the community and the success of the Wakefield Warrior Athletic Department. To me, it is the little things they do that make Wakefield special.
For example, any time one of our Wakefield HS teams won a State Championship, our Police and Fire Departments would give the team an escort through the center of town, while hordes of Wakefield citizens lined Main Street to cheer them on. This might not seem like a big deal to some, but to our kids on those teams, it meant the world to them. For a brief moment, it made our kids feel like they were the Boston Celtics riding the Duck Boats during their championship parade through Boston. Once again, it is the little things like this that make Wakefield a special place.
The community support extends far beyond our municipal departments. In today’s world, one of the greatest challenges facing public school districts can be funding. Over my tenure as Athletic Director, I have been astonished by the incredibly generous support of our local Wakefield businesses. Anytime one of our teams needed something that did not fit into our school’s operating budget, I knew that I could make a quick phone call to almost any one of our local business owners (most of whom are Wakefield Warrior alums), and they would be more than happy to make a donation or sponsor a team without any hesitation. This additional financial support from our local businesses helped provide our teams with everything they needed for success. Once again, Wakefield is a special place.
Our Wakefield alumni and citizens have also provided great support over the years. No matter where I go in town, I always bump into several WHS alums that are quick to congratulate me on our teams’ accomplishments. Despite the fact that they may have graduated from Wakefield HS decades ago, they still follow our teams, they still come to our games and they still care about the success of our teams. When our football team won the Super Bowl in 2022, a Wakefield football alum reached out to me within 24 hours and offered to buy the entire team Super Bowl rings. These types of things don’t happen in every community. Once again, Wakefield is a special place.
Our coverage from our local media outlets in town has also been amazing over the years. Wakefield Community Access TV (“WCAT”) has been awesome to work with over the years. Their entire staff, both past and present, has been wonderful to work with. They have gone above and beyond to provide our teams with top-notch coverage. They especially stepped up to the plate during the pandemic, when fans were not allowed to attend games. They did their best to live stream as many games as possible, so that family members could watch from anywhere.
In addition to WCAT, the Wakefield Daily Item has also been a great partner over the years. They have always been great to work with and have done an excellent job of providing our student-athletes and teams with terrific coverage in the paper every day. I want to especially thank sports editor Dan Pawlowski for his tremendous coverage over the years.
Working with challenging parents is a harsh reality for school administrators in this day and age. It comes with the territory and is part of the job. While I did have to work with some challenging parents at times during my tenure here; I must admit, the large majority of the parents that I worked with were fantastic and incredibly supportive. I was blessed to have been able to work with many families that had multiple siblings come up through Wakefield HS. Over the years, I got to spend a lot of time with those families and develop very strong relationships with them. Over time, I was introduced to aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, the family dog, etc. And before you knew it, these Wakefield families were treating me like I was a member of their immediate family. For those families that might be reading this, please know that I am forever grateful for the relationships we developed, and the way in which you treated me. Your support over the years has been incredible, and it means the world to me. Please know that I will always be willing to do anything I can to help support your kids, even after leaving Wakefield.
Speaking of parents and families, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the many parent volunteers that I have worked with over the years; whether it be through youth sports or booster clubs. To have a successful high school sports program, you need to have a successful youth sports feeder program in place. Thankfully, Wakefield has some very strong youth sport programs in place and almost all of them are operated and coached by parent volunteers. To all of our youth sports coaches in town, please know that I am incredibly grateful for all of the hours and work you have put in over the years. You have built the foundation for our high school sports programs and our teams would not have been nearly as successful as they have been, if it were not for you. I also want to give a shoutout to all of our booster club parents. Running a booster club and organizing fundraising events can be feel like a second full-time job at times. Our Wakefield booster clubs have been incredibly supportive, and have been a delight to work with. To all of our booster club parents, past and present, thank you for everything you have done and everything that you continue to do.
As a member of the School Department, I also got the opportunity to work with so many amazing educators and school staff personnel. To see so many teachers and staff members come out to our games each night was really special, and it meant so much to our student-athletes. It showed our students that you really cared about them, even beyond the classroom. Just like the other Town Departments, there are a lot of school staff that are either WHS alums or have kids playing for WHS teams. So, there are many school staff members that have a vested interest in our sports programs and they were incredibly supportive over the years. To all of our school staff that supported our teams over the years, I thank you. In particular, I would like to thank the school staff members that worked in the athletic department with me over the years: Danny Lumb, Kristine Collins and our legendary Athletic Trainer Sue Courchesne.
I also want to thank the greatest fan base in the state: the “Red Sea”. I’ve been to high school sporting events at high schools all over the state, and there are not many other communities that come out to cheer on their local high school teams like Wakefield does. If you don’t believe me, come up to Landrigan Field on a Friday night in the fall, or pop into Charbonneau Field House on a Friday night in the winter. You will quickly understand what I am talking about.
As I mentioned before, our coaches and student-athletes deserve the bulk of the credit. I have been truly blessed to work with such a talented and dedicated group of sports coaches during my tenure here at Wakefield High School. Wakefield has some of the very best coaches in the entire state. I have been privileged to work with several coaches that are already in the Wakefield High School Athletic Hall of Fame, and several others that are shoe-in’s to be inducted into the Hall of Fame when their time comes. During my time as athletic director, I always talked to our coaches about instilling the values of respect and effort within our programs. I wanted our student-athletes and teams to be the hardest working and toughest in the state, but at the same time be the most respectful and classiest in the state; on and off the playing field. Reflecting back on the student-athletes and teams we have had over the past decade, I feel that we have accomplished that. What has impressed me most about our WHS coaches is just how dedicated they are to the student-athletes they work with and how much they truly care about them. Most people from the outside will never understand how much time, effort and behind-the-scenes work that our coaches put in to ensure that our student-athletes are in the best position possible to succeed in athletics, school and life. I want to thank all of our coaches for everything they have done to support our students over the years.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank all of the students that I have been blessed to work with; both past and present. The students are the reason that I come to work every day. Everything that I have done throughout my career has been focused on doing the best that I can to support all of the kids that I work with. I tell our coaches all the time that I want to develop our kids into great athletes, but more importantly great students, and most importantly great people. Reflecting back on my career in Wakefield, I am so proud of all of the athletic achievements of our student-athletes, but I am even more proud of the young adults that they have developed into. Every school year around the holidays, many of our young alumni stop by the school to say hello and catch up, and I am always impressed with what mature, responsible and respectful young adults they have developed into. Every time I bump into a young WHS alumni, I am always astounded to hear about the high level of success they are having after graduating from Wakefield HS. I am so proud of all of my current and former students. To each and every one of them, I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for being such a great group to work with over the years.
This has been an experience that I will never forget, and I will always look back upon my time in Wakefield with fond memories.
Thank you again to the entire Wakefield community. I will say it one last time: It is a great day to be a Warrior!
Thank You,
Dr. Brendan Kent
