Baltimore, MD – The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) congratulates the twenty-one high school coaches from across Maryland that have been selected as 2023-24 National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches of the Year.

The NFHS annually honors a Coach of the Year in the top girls’ sports and top boys’ sports by participation numbers. The NFHS also recognizes a spirit and dance/poms coach as a separate award category. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award. This year’s awards recognize coaches for the 2023-24 school year.

The recipients of this year’s awards for girls sports are: Sissy Natoli, basketball, Clarksburg High School; Thomas Martin, cross country, Walter Johnson High School; Catherine Miller, field hockey, Winston Churchill; Robert Tarzy, golf, Winston Churchill; Maddie Ricucci, lacrosse, Fallston High School; Lea Cataggio, soccer, Havre de Grace High School; Kevin Cioppa, softball, Chopticon High School; Alex Marley, swimming, Leonardtown High School; CJ Ecalono, Track and Field, Urbana High School; Jessica Custer, volleyball, Clear Spring High School. 

Recipients of 2023-24 state awards for boys’ sports are: Keith Powell, baseball, Patuxent High School; William Watts, basketball, Overlea High School; Kelly Schmidt, cross country, Chopticon High School; Joe Rydzewski, football, Winston Churchill High School; David Darden, golf, Leonardtown High School; Gavin Donahue, lacrosse, Urbana High School; Luke Kokolios, soccer, Leonardtown High School; Nitin Deodhar, tennis, Thomas S. Wootton High School; Derek Manon, wrestling, Walt Whitman High School. 

The recipient of the State Coach of the Year Award for spirit is Amada Rumburg of Linganore High School and Mike O’Brien, Tuscarora High School, was awarded coach of the year for allied/corollary sports.