Swampscott looking for two new coaches

Change is in the wind in the Swampscott High coaching ranks.Swampscott athletic director Frank Kowalski has opened up the varsity softball head coaching job and the boys tennis job, currently held by Annamaria Addonizio and Roy Steinman, respectively.Steinman said he resigned the job three weeks ago and Addonizio said that after meeting with Kowalski at the end of the season, she also decided it was time to walk away from the situation.Addonizio took over the job from former Swampscott star pitcher Julie Ferguson, who resigned three years ago to take the varsity softball job in Gloucester. Addonizio was initially hired on an interim basis, but she was rehired the following year. The Big Blue qualified for the state tournament two of the three years she coached, and the team won the Northeastern Conference South last year.Addonizio said that last summer she had debated whether she wanted to return, but ultimately she decided to give it another year. She said her meeting with Kowalski, who informed her he was opening the job, solidified her decision to leave.”It wasn’t the right fit,” Addonizio said, adding that some upcoming changes in her life also played a role.”I’m getting married next year and buying a house,” she said.Addonizio, who grew up in Revere and played for current coach Joe Nichinello, said it was time to go.”It’s better for me. Now’s the time to walk away from the situation. I love coaching. I was giving 100 percent and not really having much fun,” she said.Addonizio, who teaches in Winthrop, said she plans to remain in coaching, although at this point in her life, she would probably prefer to be an assistant.”I couldn’t give 100 percent (to a head coaching job),” she said. “I could see being an assistant with one of the other coaches.”Although she’s leaving, Addonizio said she was happy with her three years in Swampscott.”I wish the program nothing but success,” she said. “There are no hard feelings.”Steinman was an assistant boys soccer coach in Swampscott for three years before stepping into the boys tennis program two years ago. Kowalski said Steinman did him a favor two years ago by taking the program after plans to hire Elizabeth Foukal fell through when she opted to coach in Marblehead.”He (Steinman) did me a favor two years ago,” Kowalski said. “But Roy’s a busy guy. He owns his own business.”Steinman said juggling his business and the coaching job did become problematic. He said his business is in Boston and he’s currently starting another offshoot, and as a result, he’s had to do some traveling. He said he’s been back and forth to St. Thomas five times recently. Steinman said he would leave his office in Boston at 2:30 p.m. for tennis and then return to Boston at 6:30-7 p.m.”It was a lot. It really was. I was hanging on as long as I could,” he said, adding that parents and players were very understanding.Steinman acknowledged that there were some conflicts at times within the program, but it was the increasing time commitment to his business that drove the decision.Kowalski said both Addonizio and Steinman are welcome to reapply for their jobs. Both coaches, however, expressed their desire to just move on.