Farewell, Coach Marfise

Coach Marfise is retiring after coaching for forty years, seventeen of which have been here at Berkeley Preparatory School. Coach Marfise says she has always wanted to be a P.E. teacher. She went to the University of North Carolina in Greensboro to earn a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education. She went on to coach many schools around the country; she has instructed students at schools in North Carolina, Ohio, San Francisco, California, and finally Florida. When she got to Florida, Coach Marfise had initially taught at a Montessori school and at Tampa Preparatory School. Later, luckily for us, when there was a job opening at Berkeley Preparatory School, she joined the Berkeley community.

The first sport she coached here was basketball. It was and remains one of her favorite sports to both instruct and compete in. Other than that, she coached “almost every single sport possible,” including volleyball, softball, track and field, and swimming. 

She has also chaperoned many field trips including the New York trip and the Dude Ranch. The Dude ranch trip was her favorite because she “loved the horses, the lake and just being outdoors” when she chaperoned.

When Coach Marfise is not busy training stellar athletes, she loves gardening and reading novels about action, adventure, and the human spirit. Her favorite place to be is the beach, sitting by the ocean.

Coach Marfise said that she will miss many things about Berkeley, mainly her students. “The Middle Schoolers are very silly but funny, which makes them a pleasure to work with,” she commented. Also, she will miss her work family: the coaches and teachers she has collaborated with for so many years.

Though the whole school will be sad about her departure, she said it is just another chapter in her life. She encourages the students to “let go and move on,” one of the five sayings she has taught. Her other mantras are “be here,” “be safe,” “be honest,” and “set goals”. As everyone will agree, Coach Marfise will forever leave a positive impact that will be remembered for years to come here at Berkeley.