Sports
New Head Coaches Patrolling Amity, State High School Sidelines
At least 20 new head coaches have taken the reins in fall programs at Connecticut public and parochial high schools.

WOODBRIDGE, CT — With the onset of the fall high school sports season, a number of familiar faces who have been patrolling Connecticut sidelines for decades are back, including the likes of legendary Enfield coach Cookie Bromage (field hockey, 52 years), E.O. Smith's John Blomstrann (soccer, 39 years) and New Canaan's Lou Marinelli (football, 38 years). On the opposite side of the coin, Cathy McGuirk has retired after 41 seasons at the helm of Branford field hockey, a tenure which included 10 state championships.
At Amity Regional High School, Craig Bruno is the new head football coach.
Amity is not the only state public or parochial high school featuring a new head coach this fall. A total of 16 schools have filled 20 vacancies, listed below in alphabetical order by school. (Note: not all athletic directors responded to Patch's request for this information).
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- Amity Regional: Craig Bruno, football
- Branford: Pete Frye, field hockey
- East Windsor: Tom St. Louis, boys soccer
- Hall: Erika Haelen, girls volleyball
- Immaculate: Monica Ortega, girls volleyball
- Lyman Hall: Marion Kish, girls volleyball
- Middletown: Sal Emanuele, boys soccer
- New London: Johnny Burns, football; Kristina Ciotto, girls soccer; Missy Parker, girls volleyball
- North Haven: Jeff Knuth, girls soccer
- Ridgefield: Jessica Smith, field hockey
- Rockville: Erick Knickerbocker, football
- Rocky Hill: Kevin Williams, boys soccer
- Shelton: Isaac Montalvo, boys soccer; Jeff Napoli, Bob Ayer, field hockey
- Somers: Jennifer Jablonski, field hockey
- Suffield: Sarah Supino, girls cross country
- Weston: Doug Pregman, girls cross country; Brandon Barone, girls swimming
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