Norwood High athletic director Brian McDonough didn’t have to look far to fill two of his three fall varsity coaching openings. The third has traveled quite a distance to end up on Nichols Street.
Both new Mustang volleyball coach Lauren McNally and cross country mentor Geoff Zini ascend to the head position from last year’s staff. Meanwhile, Kevin Aylett takes over the girls soccer program by way of Essex, England.
Aylett arrived in the United States from across the pond five years ago and has spent the past three years coaching various Lady Crusaders club squads for Mass. Premier Soccer. When the Norwood position opened with the resignation of Jay Dupuis after four years, Aylett pounced on the opportunity despite not knowing much about the Mustang program.
“I’ve wanted to coach a high school team for a while now,” said the 32-year old. “I have been coaching the older age group at MPS and I missed the interaction with them so I see it as a good project to coach them every day, getting your teeth into a town and the youth program.”
Aylett said it’s been an easy transition adapting to his new squad. Just under 40 girls turned out for his first day last Thursday and he had already made most of his roster decisions prior to Tuesday’s scrimmage with Medway.
“They have been fantastic, a great bunch to work with and they have worked very hard and have done everything I’ve asked to a good level,” said Aylett. “I’m very pleased with how it’s gone so far.”
A year after a trip to the Division 1 South final in only the program’s second postseason appearance, Norwood appeared poised for another tourney berth before a nine-game winless streak left them a point short at 7-8-3.
Aylett’s main focus in his first year will be the quality of play rather than specific results.
“I just want to play attractive soccer, to be honest,” he said. “This is the top end of Norwood soccer, so I want this to be a product that generates enthusiasm from the younger ages.”
With Jim Forrest becoming an assistant principal at Dedham High, cross country assistant coach Geoff Zini was elevated to the top spot.
“He’s been a great mentor and a great friend,” said Zini. “It’s definitely a tough loss for Norwood all the way around and certainly the cross country and track seasons coming up.”
Zini, who is also the J.V. boys basketball coach and is the social studies department chair at the high school, never ran cross country in high school, but said that he got a greater understanding of the sport from being around Forrest.
“It’s a very different sport than basketball, sort of what I’m used to,” he said. “It’s really grown on me, helping them. It’s a sport where there is a lot of mental preparation involved, it’s a different aspect for me so I do enjoy it.”
He said both squads have about 10 runners on each team, a small team for the boys but a bigger team for the girls with the addition of four freshmen.
Aimee Worcester and Jan Cohn will be assisting Zini this fall.
Lauren McNally is another coach that will be sliding over a chair as she takes over for Tim Linehan, who moved out of state. A guidance counselor at the school, the former Ashland High standout played volleyball for four years at Stonehill before graduating in 2006.
She said the turnout for tryouts was outstanding with 35 girls coming out for 26 spots on the varsity and J.V. team.
Entering her third year at the school, McNally hopes this is the start of a lengthy tenure with the program and is starting with the basics with a squad that has consistently been a few games short of qualifying for the postseason.
“We have some new girls this year, so we’re really going to have to work as a team,” she said. “For them, it’s learning how to communicate well with one another and pushing all the way through. They can be a competitive bunch, and I’m glad about that so just keeping them motivated all the way through the season and making sure they providing challenging competition to every team they play.”
McNally is fortunate in that the Mustangs do not play their season opener until Sept. 14 when they host Newton North.