You’ve heard her name, you’ve seen her around: Sandy Mamary, the face of Westfield Athletics, is retiring.
An athletic trainer, an athletic director and Westfield’s biggest fan, Sandy has been a part of the Westfield staff for a whopping 37 years.
In March, the BOE unanimously approved her retirement, set to begin on June 30.
“37 years is a long time,” said Sandy. And she’s right, it is. Throughout her time here at Westfield, Sandy has worked diligently to create positive changes for student athletes.
Sandy could have never predicted where her career would take her or how large of a role Westfield athletics would take in her life but she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
The Beginning
You don’t just start on the top, you work your way up to it.
August, 1987: the month when Sandy was hired as a certified athletic trainer at WHS.
For the next 23 years, Sandy worked in the training room, patching up wounds and putting on braces for nearly 1200 student athletes across 66 teams. Waiting for her opportunity to become athletic director, Sandy executed her job every day. However, that’s not to say she did not love her job, because she did. Even then, she would spend her time on the sidelines of every sports game, every single day, helping out athletes while also watching them perform on the field. Smiling, she said, “You know, the training room, it’s a great place to be.”
The Opening
“Five years before this job became available, I was like, you know, I think I really would like to make an impact, and also make an impact for girls sports,” Sandy said.
In August of 2010, Sandy seized the opportunity just like she said she would. She was unanimously appointed to be the supervisor of athletics for Westfield Public Schools by the Westfield BOE.
“I felt like we should have more programs; we should have more teams. And no fault to the person before me, it’s just that as a woman, you kind of look at things a little differently. You just do.”
Girls in sports: historically overlooked and underrepresented. Bringing in Sandy as athletic director was a huge step for Westfield Athletics. She was the first woman athletic director in school history. She used her entire career to build the female programs at WHS not just adding more sports but helping those teams win championships.
And soon enough, with Sandy as AD, Westfield received a girls flag football team and a girls ice hockey team, marking major triumphs for the female athletes in Westfield.
In fact, this year, for the first time in program history, the girls ice hockey team took home the Annis Cup trophy, proving how far this young program has come in a short time under Sandy’s administration.
The Job
What does Sandy actually do? When we asked her this question, she simply laughed. She has heard it quite a lot.
She described it as almost a behind-the-scenes operation. All those little details that go into planning, the invisible strings that are pulled. Sandy is the puppeteer: directing, managing and overseeing Westfield athletics.
“You don’t see the hundreds of emails I get a day,” Sandy said. “Scheduling is huge. Transportation is huge. Budget it huge,” and it’s her job to make sure it all gets done.
Scheduling, Sandy says, is her favorite part of the job. She calls in a game, a game just like chess. Having to balance practice schedules, accommodating coaches’ requests and balancing home and away games on just one field has proved to be the largest piece of her job, especially the past few years.
She says, “To me, it gives me the chance to really once again, help our kids excel. When I’m building a schedule, I’m looking at where [teams] finished last year, are they going to give us some points.”
In addition to her everyday responsibilities, Sandy created the Westfield Hall of Fame which honors athletes, coaches, teams and programs that have come through Westfield.
And even on top of these obligations, Sandy has to make time to be there for her athletes.
Senior basketball captain Shane Sheehan said,“I think Sandy did a really good job making personal connections with the athletes. Someone like [Sandy] has to be responsible for a bunch of different teams and athletes, so I think she really did a good job everyday making personal connections and relationships with athletes.”
Almost every game, match, brawl – big or small – Sandy was there. Emily Shabinaw, captain of the girls tennis team, said, “Sandy always made it a point to come to some big tennis matches. Tennis is kind of not really recognized that much in Westfield athletics, so it’s great to see that our athletic director would come out and support our team.”
And from her 37 years, her biggest regret… the Edison Turf project.
The Edison Turf project proposed new turf fields behind Edison Intermediate School with lights, so athletes can have somewhere to play after the sunset. This was not a quick proposal, but something many Westfield residents spent years campaigning for.
“I really wanted that. I’m all about giving the students as much as I can, and that was the one thing I couldn’t give. I think about it, it keeps me awake at night.”
The Legacy
“Back in 1986, I grew up in Westfield, and I was the ballboy her first year as a trainer. So, to describe her in a few sentences is pretty hard to do because I just have a unique and special relationship with her that has lasted from a ball boy as a young man, to a student as my trainer, as a player and then eventually becoming my boss… she’s always have a special place in my heart.
Like Werthimer, Sandy has been involved in her previous student’s lives. She has seen multiple generations of athletes pass through during her career either as a trainer or as AD and seeing this unfold has been one of the best experiences of her career.
“It’s just, I love that, I love the progression. I love the growth and development. And honestly that was my goal when I first started. And I’ve been seeing it happen. That’s kind of cool when you can say, all right, I want to see this and then watch it happen.”
The Future
To many, Sandy’s retirement was a surprise. But, her decision came after taking time to seriously think and self reflect on her life right now. She said, “I want things to always progress and always get better. I also think you need to have some fresh eyes. I never wanted to be that person that left when it’s time to leave.”
With her children getting older and having grandchildren, Sandy mentioned how she wanted to have her weekends back, so she could spend more time with her family.
Taking Sandy’s position as athletic director is vice principal and football coach Jim DeSarno.
“Mr. DeSarno, he gets it, you know.”
Jim DeSarno, former assistant principal and football coach, will take on Sandy’s responsibilities next year as athletic director. DeSarno was not only backed by the Westfield community, but he was the pick endorsed by Sandy herself.
Following the announcement of DeSarno as her successor in May, he expressed his excitement at a BOE meeting stating, “I’m excited to work with our amazing coaches and student athletes. Having coached and taught for a very long time, I will be there to support them wherever they need.”
Sandy has assured the Westfield community that they are in good hands. In fact, she would know, they’ve been friends for over 20 years. The two got their master’s degrees together at Kean University in Elizabeth NJ, and they ended up both finding jobs at Westfield.
“It’s a feel good, right?” Sandy chuckled. “Like, okay, this is what I have. Now you take it and then make it better. I want him to take what I have and make it better, and he’s going to do that with his own signature”
As for Sandy herself, she’s not quite ready to completely abandon Westfield athletics. She still holds the title of President of the Hall of Fame. And the games, she remarks, “I’m gonna come watch the games, like how can I not? I think that it would be fun to actually sit and watch a game and not worry about who;s playing in the high jump pit.” She laughed, “DeSarno can take care of that!”
“I’ve been involved in athletics my whole life. I can’t imagine walking away and not having it.I had my vision, I’m sure he’s going to have his vision, and it’s going to just continue to grow and get better.”
June 30th marks Sandy’s official retirement with a new vision and chapter in the history of Westfield athletics. While a new page is being turned in the history books every Westfield athlete, led by a new AD, will fight to keep the everlasting impact of Sandy Mamary a piece of Westfield athletics.
