SAUGUS — Friday night was a special night in Saugus, as one of the most well-respected and revered members of the Saugus High community was honored for his years of service and dedication to the school and the impact he made on so many.
At halftime of Saugus’ game against Winthrop, the new field and athletic complex at Saugus Middle-High School was officially dedicated in honor of Christie Serino Jr.
“I was just happy and honored to be a part of it all,” said Saugus Board of Selectmen Chairman Anthony Cogliano, who played a role in initially recommending the dedication back at the Town Meeting in May and emceed the dedication on the field Friday night. “Christie was my high-school coach, an incredible mentor and just a great person. You couldn’t find a better person to get an honor like this.”
Born in Winthrop and raised in Saugus, Serino was a graduate of Saugus High and American International College in Springfield. He lettered at both schools in football, hockey and baseball, and became a member of each school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. An All-American baseball player and an All-ECAC football and hockey player at AIC, Serino then moved on to start his career as a coach and teacher.
A teacher in Saugus from 1971-87, he was the hockey coach at Saugus High from 1980-87. He later became the head hockey coach for three seasons at Northfield Mount Hermon from 1988-91 before taking the job as an assistant hockey coach at the University of New Hampshire for seven seasons and also as the UNH baseball coach.
In April of 1998, he became the head coach of the Merrimack College hockey program until 2002. After his first throat-cancer diagnosis in 2001, Serino accepted the position of athletic director and head hockey coach at Malden Catholic High School.
Serino died from throat cancer in 2012 at the age of 63.
Known as one of the best athletes to ever come out of Saugus, Serino played a key role in developing the Saugus Youth & Recreation Department programming in the 1970s and was a popular English teacher at Belmonte Middle School and physical-education teacher at Saugus High.
This past spring, Town Meeting members voted unanimously to name the state-of-the-art stadium and field adjacent to the Saugus Middle-High School the Christie Serino Jr. Athletic Sports Complex.
Friday night, a number of Serino’s friends and family members — including his five sons Matt, Craig, Anthony, Nicolas and Christie J. “C.J.” — were on hand for the ceremony.
“I’ve been friends with the family for 30 years now, and it was really special to have everyone there to celebrate a great man,” said Cogliano. “He’s probably the best athlete to ever come out of Saugus High, but he was so much more than that. I’m glad we’ll get to see his name every time we come to the stadium now.”
