As the seasons change and athletes make the transition from fall to winter sports, player rosters are changing for most teams, while coaches are changing for others. For the upcoming winter sports season, Chris Doyle and Bruce Rich will be the new head coaches for varsity WA Boys’ Lacrosse and Wrestling respectively.

According to Athletic Director Dan Twomey, these two coaches were hired in place of Coach Matt Tholander who used to coach both sports.

With experience as the head coach at Burlington High School from 2006 to 2010 and at Medford High School from 2012 to 2015, the upcoming season will be Doyle’s 11th season spent coaching high school lacrosse. According to Doyle, in Medford, the team he coached set a school record with 14 wins in both 2012 and 2015.

However, he decided to take the coaching position at WA because of his high regard for the lacrosse program in Westford.

“The lacrosse program, from […] the youth up to the high school has been well organized, leading many players to continue their [lacrosse] careers in college. When the position became available, I knew I had to put my name in the ring,” said Doyle.

With his ultimate goal being the team’s success, he believes that the group growing closer and pushing itself to be better will facilitate their performance.

“[Becoming] a team that works the hardest every day, [has] each others backs, [pushes] each other to be better, and becoming a tight-knit group would be success. If we accomplish all of those […] things, the wins are sure to accompany that,” said Doyle.

According to Doyle, he also has confidence in his ability to handle the challenges that come with becoming a new coach of a team.

“There is always [a questioning] feeling, especially from the upper classmen, when a new coach comes in. I [am] fortunate [to have been in] this situation a few times before, so I feel I have a pretty good handle on it. I usually have a very good relationship with my players, so everything will come together quickly,” he said.

On the other hand, Coach Rich has previously been an assistant wrestling coach at WA from 2011-2014, and is currently a varsity football coach here as well, so he is familiar with the student athletes.

“Not only are the students great kids, but they like to compete and are very coachable. Also, I’ve always been impressed with the amount of support that the fellow students, administration, and the town give to their athletic programs,” said Rich.

Rich began coaching wrestling following his high school graduation; prior to coming to Westford, he spent two years coaching at Chelmsford High school, three years at Waltham High, and last year he coached at Tyngsborough High School.

He believes that the transition between coaches will go smoothly, as the wrestling captains also play football, and because he coached under the previous head coach, Coach Tholander, for three years prior.

“I’m not planning on changing many things […] because they were very successful under Coach Tho,” he said.

However, besides the annual goal of winning the DCL competition, he also wants to try and promote wrestling more around the school.

“My goal this year is to make the sport more exciting […] I believe if wrestling at WA becomes more exciting, we will get more kids out for the team and that will lead to winning more matches,” said Rich.