Kristin Cieri is out as coach for the Wellesley High School girls varsity basketball team after 18 years on the job, and the school is now looking for her replacement. The school can’t say anything further since it was a “personnel issue”. Coaches are offered contracts year to year.
During Cieri’s tenure as WHS basketball coach, her teams scored some impressive results on the court, including winning the Division 2 state championship in 2008 (shown in photo). Prior to coaching at Wellesley, she coached at Norwood High. Cieri is joining the Lexington High School girls lacrosse coaching staff for the coming season and is listed on the Weston Middle School Phys Ed faculty directory.
Wellesley High is also on the prowl for a new coach for the girls’ varsity lacrosse team. Last year, the team had an interim coach.
It’s been a mixed summer for the overall Wellesley High sports program. The program came under scrutiny in July by the state Attorney General’s office, which was looking into parents’ complaints of bullying by two WHS girls’ coaches (a Townsman article did not name names). On a more positive note, Wellesley High student-athletes were recognized by the Boston Globe as part of its Scholastic Awards program.
I am a Wellesley woman who was coached and trained by one of these wonderful leaders that have been so poorly spoken about. I know first hand how they coach, and how they treat their athletes and I have nothing but the highest respect for my high school coach. No, I never was a captain, never an all star or an MVP, but I worked hard, played hard and earned my right to play, and my right to be a starter. Nothing was ever handed to any of us, nor was there any favoritism on or off the field. I have nothing but the best memories and experiences from my athletic days at Wellesley a High School. My children now attend Wellesley High School and it’s a true shame that they will never get to know the amazing coach and role model that I knew.
Shame. I wish her the best. She was an important person to so many girls that played on her teams over the years. Wellesley’s loss.