WOODBURY — Every Nonnewaug athlete calls him Sean, but this year, Nonnewaug’s athletic trainer has picked up a new title.
Mr. McGee, athletic director.
“Sean bleeds the Chiefs, red, white, and blue,” says Declan Curtin, Nonnewaug’s Assistant Principal. “ We knew that he had the passion and desire to take on the job.”
Along with bleeding red, white, and blue, McGee strives for all kids to have a good experience here at Nonnewaug.
“The reason I took on the job really in the bottom line of things is because I want the kids and athletes here at the school to have the best experience they can have,” says McGee. “I feel like I’ve been helping out with athletics ever since I was an athletic trainer. I’ve always gone above and beyond with my job and the opportunity came up and I decided ‘hey why not?”
Last school year the athletic director position was fulfilled by many people.
“Last year, we kind of went into triage mode when Mr. Tammero unfortunately got sick very quickly in September. We had to come up with a plan on how we were going to manage the position throughout the year,” says Curtin. “We hired Sue Murphy, who came in and did a lot of work with scheduling. We also worked very closely with Mr. Denman and Mr. Brennan to make sure that they were supported in their duties as a fall and winter site coordinators and then in the spring, I kind of came on board at that point and kind of looked after things in the springtime as Mrs. Murphy was no longer with us at that point.”
Before stepping into this role McGee was already doing more than his duties as an Athletic Trainer.
“No matter what Sean is always there for us, “says Nonnewaug athlete Lila Farrelly. “Wether it’s a bruise or a medical emergency Sean goes above and beyond to ensure all athletes safety. He also puts us first no matter what.”
Along with helping athletes with injuries his new job includes, “Putting out fires before they start,” says McGee.
“I do a lot of things like scheduling buses, and scheduling games,” says McGee. “I also organize all the rosters and make sure that the refs are ordered. I make sure transportation’s all set, make sure that all the coaches have all their certifications and other paperwork that needs to be signed and documented. It’s really a lot of organization, in the end, the more organized they are, the better things are in the end.”
But being organized isn’t the only reason why McGee was hired, His care.
“Sean cares, that’s what makes him good for the role,” says Farrelly.
Like Farrelly, Nonnewaug athlete Aubrie Salisbury agrees that McGee’s care is important.
“He cares about every single one of his athletes,” says Salisbury. “When an athlete gets hurt, he makes sure that he takes every step to get them to have a very smooth and quick recovery”
