Seaforth bolsters athletic staff with 19 hirings

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PITTSBORO — Seaforth High School announced a number of approved hires in recent weeks that will join the athletic staff this fall in the Hawks’ inaugural season.

Here is a list of those hires, with all biographies courtesy of the Seaforth Athletics website:

Heather Algiere, Varsity Cheerleading Head Coach

“Algiere started her teaching career at Davie County High School and was J.V. cheer coach for a year before moving to Chatham County. Once at Northwood High School, she met the amazing Northwood cheer staff, joined the coaching team and has been working alongside both varsity and J.V. squads for the last six years.”

Kirsten Berger, Varsity Girls Volleyball and Softball Head Coach

“‘Coach K’ is a Chatham County native and has been coaching volleyball and softball for nine years at the middle and high school level. Her coaching philosophy centers around hard work, dedication and communication.

She values growth by focusing on team and individual goals to learn from the past to succeed in the future. Fundamentals of the sport play a key role in improving our day-to-day success and creating our legacy.”

John Berry, Director of Basketball Skills Development

“For over 20 years, Berry has coached basketball at the recreation, travel, AAU, J.V. and varsity levels. In addition, he has been a skills development trainer since 1997 and has instructed and coached thousands of kids.

Berry’s ‘surgical instruction’ style — with an emphasis on defense — is his calling card, but more importantly, in addition to helping kids on the basketball court, he’s committed to helping kids in life.”

Charles Byrd, Varsity Girls Basketball Head Coach

“Byrd is a basketball coach who helps young athletes take their skill and basketball I.Q. to the next level. As a former athlete himself, he fully understands the game of basketball and strives to help others do the same. He firmly believes in the term “student-athlete” by allowing teens to be focused in their studies while also allowing them a safe place to lose themselves in the game.

Byrd began coaching in 2016 as a girls middle school basketball coach at Fuquay-Varina Middle School. He then went on to coach girls basketball at Fuquay-Varina High School for two years and then at Jordan-Matthews High School the following two years. In addition to coaching women’s high school basketball teams, he has now accomplished creating his “Hoopsmadesimple” brand while also coaching various AAU basketball teams. Through these programs, he allows athletes to build their legacy one brick at a time.”

Joseph DeShazo, J.V. Boys Basketball Head Coach

No bio provided by Seaforth’s website.

Terrance Gary, Varsity Football Coach

“Gary is from Spring Lake, where he participated in football, powerlifting and track. Upon graduation he attended Guilford College and earned his B.S. in Exercise and Sport Studies while playing football. He and his wife moved to the area four years ago with their two dogs, Freddy and Fergus. In 2018, they were blessed with a baby girl, Olivia.

Upon graduating college, Gary played arena football and became a professional bodybuilder. In his 13 years of coaching, he’s been a middle school and semi-professional head coach, along with a high school offense, defense and special teams coordinator.”

Jenny Jones, J.V. Girls Volleyball Head Coach and Varsity Assistant Coach

“Jones was born in Colorado and grew up in both Colorado and Idaho. She began playing volleyball as a child, began coaching individuals as a teenager and now enjoys coaching both individuals and teams. She is passionate about helping athletes and students become successful both on and off the court.

Besides coaching and playing volleyball, she enjoys serving in her church, spending time with her husband and six kids and doing outdoor activities.”

Brian Ledford, J.V. Baseball Head Coach

“Ledford has been teaching Math at the high school level for 13 years and has coached baseball at Pinecrest High School (Southern Pines) and Panther Creek High School (Cary), in addition to most recently coaching softball at Middle Creek High School (Cary).

When Ledford is not teaching or coaching in school, he can be found coaching his two children’s baseball and softball teams.”

Katie McGinty, Varsity Girls Lacrosse Head Coach

“Coach McGinty is very excited to begin this new chapter at Seaforth High School and lead the women’s lacrosse program!

She is a former collegiate athlete, playing lacrosse at Stony Brook University and named captain her senior year. After graduation, McGinty was the assistant coach at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts, before moving back to New York in 2009. Since then, she has coached high school-age players on the club circuit for programs such as FLG Lacrosse and Long Island Express and at St. Anthony’s High School, which is, historically, a nationally ranked program. McGinty was an assistant coach for its varsity team before becoming the head J.V. coach in 2015. As head coach, she led them to five consecutive league championships and many of her former players are playing collegiately or are committed.

In addition to coaching, she has been a high school guidance counselor for the past seven years and specializes in NCAA regulations and college admissions/applications.”

Anna Murr, Athletic Trainer

“Murr graduated in 2018 from Truett McConnell University with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. She continued on at Lee University, where she recently completed her master’s degree in Athletic Training. Murr is looking forward to helping build and grow the athletic and sports medicine departments at Seaforth.”

Duncan Murrell, Varsity Boys Cross Country Head Coach

“Murrell has coached top high school athletes and All-American youth athletes during his career. At Green Hope High School, he helped coach the men’s cross country team to a runner-up finish at the NCHSAA 4A championship and led the indoor track distance squad, several members of which now compete at NCAA Division I colleges and universities. While at Chatham Central High School, he was named the Central Tar Heel Conference Men’s Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2018. He is a USA Track and Field level two endurance coach and has also coached sprinters at Durham Academy.

A runner himself, he was a member of the Rockville High School cross sountry squad that won one state championship and had a couple of podium finishes.

Murrell is a graduate of Cornell University and Northwestern University. Off the track, he is an independent book editor and a contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine.”

PJ Petrides, Boys and Girls Varsity Tennis Head Coach

“A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill where he played tennis for the Tar Heels under Sam Paul, Petrides has a true passion for the sport and genuinely enjoys coaching players of all skill levels. He is excited to bring his extensive tennis knowledge to Seaforth.

Outside of tennis, Petrides manages (an) energy services business and a small law practice and enjoys spending time with his identical twin daughters.”

Tony Pyland, Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach for Football

“Pyland has 22 years of experience coaching high school football and has also coached sports such as powerlifting, track and basketball.”

Tanelle Smith, Varsity Girls Cross Country Head Coach

“Smith is a USA Track & Field certified coach with a passion and drive that hopes to encourage student-athletes to develop their own love for the sport. The goal is to instill individual confidence through training hard and fostering strong team unity.

Her prior coaching experience includes being a cross country assistant coach at both Margaret B. Pollard Middle School and Northwood High School.”

Jarod Stevenson, Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach

“Coach Stevenson graduated from the University of Richmond. In his senior year, he was the CAA Conference Most Valuable Player and he led his team in the upset of the no. 4 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Stevenson has played professionally for 21 years in many different countries including France, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Spain and South Korea. He is a 2014 Asian Games gold medalist and has been coaching kids in the United States and South Korea for the past eight years.”

Nicole Stevenson, Varsity Boys Basketball Assistant Coach

“Stevenson started for UNC-Chapel Hill women’s basketball, where she won three ACC Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times, going as far as the Elite Eight. She played professionally in Portugal, where she was selected to an All-Star team. She has a BSPH with honors in Health Policy and Administration and an M.S. in Information Science with a minor in Computer Science from UNC-Chapel Hill.

She has been coaching school and travel basketball teams nationally and abroad for more than eight years. She’s coached numerous camps and clinics for kids in elementary through high school. While head coach of the varsity boys basketball team for the Dwight International School of Seoul (South Korea), the team won the conference and playoff championship. She believes in building strong fundamentals through hard work and lots of repetition and is passionate about helping kids succeed on and off the court.”

Shontai Totten, Varsity Girls Basketball Assistant Coach

“Totten is a 2020 graduate of North Carolina Central University, where she earned her Bachelor of Social Work. She also holds an Associates degree in Business Administration from Louisburg College.

After playing two years of college basketball at Louisburg, she joined the women’s basketball team at NCCU as a point guard and shooting guard. She is the former assistant boys basketball coach for The Institute for the Development of Young Leaders (IDYL). In addition, she has three years of experience in one-on-one and group basketball training for middle school, high school and college athletics.”

Giovanni Viana, Varsity Boys and Girls Soccer Head Coach

“Viana brings a wealth of in-depth soccer knowledge at all levels, youth to professional, to Seaforth High School. Most recently, he spent the last six years as a youth coach for NC Football Club (NCFC) at the Classic Level. Prior to that, he served as the women’s soccer head coach for Newbury College and Beaver Country Day High School, the head men’s soccer coach at Brookline High School and an assistant coach at Lasell College, all in Masschusetts.

Viana also has a plethora of international professional coaching experiences. He served as an assistant coach with Canto do Rio Foot-Ball Club and Serrano Football Club in the Rio de Janeiro State League (Brazil), where he previously played professionally. He also participated in a coaching internship with the FIFA Club World Cup Champion and seven-time Brazilian National Champion Clube de Regatas do Flamengo.

Viana resides in Chatham County and has been married to his wife, Carolina, for 22 years and has two young daughters, Sofia and Isabela, who both play soccer.”

Brent Winston, Offensive Line Coach for Varsity Football

“Winston grew up in Statesville, where he attended Statesville High School and UNC-Chapel Hill from 2003-2010. He has been working in Chatham County since 2011 teaching Math at Moncure School and earned National Board certification in 2015.

Winston has coached multiple sports at the middle school and high school levels, but his main focus has been on high school football. Winston’s number one passion is watching Buffalo Bills games with his wife and dogs.”

Seaforth will host a virtual ‘Meet the Coaches’ Zoom meeting on June 2nd at 6 p.m. for all students interested in playing sports. Check the Hawks’ athletics page for details: https://seaforthhawks.bigteams.com/