Coaching CONTACTS

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

Brett Stinchfield earned his B.S. in Sport Management from UMass Amherst in 2015 and his M.Ed. in Athletic Administration from Endicott College in 2020. While at UMass, he served as a student manager for the men’s basketball and football programs and completed internships with Needham High School, the New England Revolution, ESPN, and the Cape Cod Baseball League. After graduating, he spent six years as the Director of Basketball at Starland Sportsplex in Hanover.

His coaching experience includes positions at Plymouth South High School (2016–17), Marshfield High School (2017–22), Fisher College (2022–23), and Canton High School (2023–25). In addition to his work in Needham, he serves as the South Shore Regional Director for the Middlesex Magic and operates his own camp and clinic company, Laced Up Lab.

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

Courtney Todesco in her 12th season as the Head Coach of Needham High School's Girls Volleyball team. Her other coaching positions have included: assisting the Needham boys volleyball team, assisting the girls and boys volleyball teams at Newton South High School and serving as the MIT Men's volleyball team assistant coach.

In her Needham coaching tenure so far, she has amassed a 179 - 58 record, led the team to two state titles - 2019 (first state title in school history) and 2021(MIAA sportsmanship award winners as well), multiple final four appearances, and several league titles. Some of her personal awards include: 2019 Boston Globe Coach of the Year, 2019 MIAA Coach of the Year, 2020 Positive Coaching Alliance Double Goal Coach - Regional Winner (only 100 coaches selected in the nation), and 2020 AVCA 30 Under 30 Coach Award Winner.

Prior to her coaching career, she played volleyball for four years at Trinity College (CT) where she led the team in blocks. She was a two sport varsity athlete and captain at Newton South High School. And, she played for SMASH volleyball club. Outside of coaching, Courtney is currently in her 9th year as a wellness teacher at Pollard Middle School in Needham.

Coach Tessa was hired in 2025 as the Head Coach for Needham High School Girls varsity field hockey. She comes back to the district after two years of coaching the Pollard Middle School program with a one year stint as assistant coach for Buckingham, Brown & Nichols high school varsity field hockey in 2024. Tessa also coaches for the Nexus program which is the pathway for team USA. She holds a Level 1 coaching certificate from USA Field Hockey. Tessa was a Division 1 athlete playing for Radford University and was 1st team all Nor-Pac Conference her senior season.

In addition to coaching, Tessa plays for the USA Masters where she has gone on two tours so far; one in 2024 for the PanAmerican Games in Argentina and the other in 2025 for the World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.

Tessa is also the Assistant Director of Needham Youth Field Hockey and is a consultant for Victory Sports Tours. 

Rich is in his 8th year coaching the Needham High School Boys Cross Country and Track Teams. He is currently Head Coach for Cross Country and Assistant Coach for Boys Indoor Track and Outdoor Track. He started as a Volunteer Assistant in 2018, became  a paid Assistant Coach in 2019, an Interim Head Cross Country Coach in 2022, and Head Coach in 2024. He emphasizes a supportive team atmosphere and helping student-athletes reach their potential.

Competitive Accomplishments

Rich’s career as a competitive athlete spanned 27 years. He attended Wellesley High School where he was a captain of the 1973 Bay State League Champion Cross Country Team. He set school records in the 1 Mile Run (a record that stood for 42 years), 4x880yd. Relay, and Distance Medley Relay (1974). Rich ran Cross Country and Track and Field at Lafayette College, a Division One program, where he set school records for 1500 Meters, 5000 Meters and the Distance Medley Relay (1978) and received the Peter Mills Crampton Most Improved Award (1978). After graduating Rich ran for the Greater Boston Track Club (1978-1983), BAA Running Club (1986-1991) and Boston Running Club (1992-1996).  He was awarded Most Improved honors by the BAA Running Club in 1987 and was a Phoenix Award recipient for Boston Running Club in 1992.  He concluded his competitive running career as USATF-New England Masters Mile Champion in 1996.

Education and Certifications

Rich graduated from Lafayette College in PA with a BA in Anthropology and Sociology in 1978. He received a certificate in Organization Development from Columbia University in 1993 and a Masters In Education in Instructional Design from U-Mass Boston in 2002. He is currently USATF Level 1 Coaching and USATF SafeSport certified.

Previous Career and Coaching Experience

Rich had a 36 year career at Liberty Mutual Insurance working in the Corporate Learning and Development group. He retired in 2018 as Director and AVP of Instructional Design and Instructional Technology.  During this time Rich was also active in the local running community serving as a board member and President for the Boston Athletic Association Running Club and Boston Running Club from 1990 through 1996. As a board member he mentored recent college graduates transitioning to post-collegiate club running. He also volunteered as Parent-Coach for the Needham Youth Track Club in the 2000s when his two sons were active in the program.  Rich coached his wife, Kim, to a 1996 US Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier and his son, John, a 2016 NHS graduate and XC/Track alum, to a sub-4 minute Mile in 2025. 

Outside of coaching Rich enjoys travelling and hiking with Kim, visits with his sons, John and James, gardening, and reading about history, paleo-anthropology and conservation biology. 

This is Sue's third season as Needham High School Girls Head Cross Country Coach. Her teams have earned runner up Bay State Conference Champion honors for the last three years. In 2024, the team won the Division 1A championships and placed 5th at the All State meet.  In 2025, the team went undefeated in Bay State Conference dual meets. Sue was named BSC XC Coach of the year in 2024. 

Sue started coaching for the Needham Public Schools in 2014. She coached the Middle School Cross Country and Track teams for three years. In 2017, she started coaching at the high school level as an Assistant Cross Country and Track and Field Coach. 

As a high school athlete, she was runner up at the  Wisconsin State Cross Country Championships. She was a two time High School Foot Locker National qualifier and two time All-American. Sue competed at Division 1 Northwestern University in Cross County and Track and Field. She competed in the 1985 NCAA Cross Country National Championships. 

Outside of coaching, Sue works as a physical therapist and continues to run in road and cross country races and loves spending time with her three adult children and two cats. 

Coach Cole has led the Needham High School Boys’ Varsity Golf Team since 2010. Under his leadership, the Rockets have been a perennial contender in the Bay State Conference, finishing as South Sectional Runner-Up in 2013 and qualifying for the MIAA Team State Tournament three times. During his tenure, standout player Jake Shuman captured back-to-back Division I State Championships in 2012 and 2013, and the program earned an MIAA Sportsmanship Award in 2017.

Outside of coaching, Adam teaches personal finance and statistics at Needham High School and runs a financial advising business focused on college financing.  He continues to compete in triathlons, road races, and swimming events as well as play golf with his two boys.

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

Jessica is an alum of Needham High School, and the Dance Team, she graduated in 2008. She started with the Rockets after earning a B.A. in dance at one of the Boston area’s most respected dance programs, Dean College in 2012. Coach Arruda founded the JV Dance Team program after graduating college in 2013, and took over the Varsity program in 2019. With a vivacious personality and excellent training, Jessica is a natural leader. Coach Arruda is the Assistant Director at a local dance studio, Needham Dance Theatre. She also teaches Barre Method fitness classes and is Acro Arts Certified. She is also a proud mom of son, Theo, who arrived in October 2024. 

Coach Hoban is entering his 12th season as the Head Coach of the NHS Boys' Ice Hockey team and his 14th season overall. Led the Rockets to Bay State Herget titles in 2019 and 2024. Prior to coaching at Needham, Coach Hoban played professionally with the Fort Wayne Komets in the ECHL. Graduated from Babson College in 2012 where he was a four year student-athlete captaining the team and earning all-conference his senior season and a league Championship his freshman year. A 2008 graduate from St. Sebastian's where he was a member of the varsity ice hockey and soccer teams for four years and captain of both teams his senior year.

Outside of coaching, Coach Hoban is an Asset Manager with Equity Industrial Partners in Needham, MA and a husband and father to three boys.

Paul is currently in his eighteen year of coaching the boys varsity basketball program. He started his coaching career in Needham in 1999 as the freshman coach and later became the junior varsity coach before accepting the varsity position in the fall of 2008. In 2023,  Paul and his staff guided the Rockets to the first state finals appearance in school history. The team also made the MIAA tournament final four in 2017.  The “we over me” and “next play” pillars of the program helped fuel the Rockets to seven straight BSC league championships from 2017-2024.  In 2016 and 2023 Paul was named the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association Division One Coach of the Year. Additionally, Paul was named Boston Globe Division One Coach of the Year in 2023. 

Outside of coaching Paul is a sixth grade math teacher at the High Rock School in Needham.

Lindsay is currently in her first season as the Head Coach of the Needham High School Girls' Varsity Basketball team.  She joined the Rockets after 2 seasons as Head Coach at the Rivers School and 5 seasons as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Harvard University.  Harvard competed in the postseason each year Lindsay was on staff, including two 20+ win seasons.  Through her collegiate coaching experience, Lindsay has coached 17 All-Ivy players, 2 WNBA players, 1 Olympian, and 7 professional players.  Lindsay also has spent 10 years running Hallion Hoop Academy - a program that focuses jointly on basketball and mental skills training. 

Prior to coaching Lindsay was a 2-time state champion at Westwood High School where she remains the school's all-time leading scorer and was part of a 71-game winning streak.  She went on to play at Harvard where she was a point guard on 3 Ivy Championship teams, competed in the NCAA tournament, and was recognized as a 2-time All-Ivy player, a 2-time recipient of the Harvard Pride Award, a member of the ESPN Academic All-District Team, and as a nominee for the Harvard Women's Leadership Award.  After college she played professionally in Waterford City, Ireland.

Outside of coaching Lindsay works as a mental health counselor and a mental performance coach. 

Coach Hargraves joined the Rockets a decade ago, beginning his Needham coaching journey with Freshman Football and Varsity Wrestling. Hargraves spent two seasons as a Varsity Assistant Wrestling coach at Noble and Greenough School before returning to Needham in 2024 to be the Varsity Wrestling Head Coach. 

Over the years, Coach Hargraves has also served as Head Coach for the Needham Girls Rugby Team and Assistant Coach for the Girls Flag Football Team. He previously supported the Belmont High School Rugby Team as an Assistant Coach.

In addition to coaching high school, Coach Hargraves led the Men’s CRRFC to a NERFU Championship in 2021 and a National appearance in 2022. He has also coached youth wrestling and rugby at the British international School of Boston and helped mentor youth athletes through organizations such as Boston Youth Wrestling, Up2UsSports, Beat the Streets and Boys and Girls Club.

Tom is currently in his 15th season coaching ski racing. He joined the Rockets in 2011 and spent four years as the Assistant Coach and then became the Head Coach at Natick High School Ski Team for two seasons. Tom returned to Needham High School in 2017 as the Head Coach of the Girls and Boys Varsity and JV Alpine Ski Teams. This past season, the team enjoyed their most successful season with multiple podium finishes in individual and team results, the Girls Team winning the Ski East championship, and the Boys Team state championship qualifiers placing 3rd overall.

Tom has also been a parent volunteer for Natick’s Youth Football, Youth Soccer, and Youth baseball programs, and is currently a volunteer with the Natick High School Varsity Football Team. In addition to coaching, Tom is a Teaching Coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services in Framingham.

Tom grew up in Weston MA where he played football and baseball at Weston High School. He also competed in ski racing and freestyle at Waterville Valley NH with the BBTS program. He received his bachelor’s degree at Boston University and a Master’s Degree in Education at Framingham State University.

Tom lives in Natick with his wife Andrea and son Ben, who is a three sport student-athlete at Natick High School.

Coach Cole began swimming competitively as a freshman at Needham High School, where he served as team captain his senior year, before continuing his career at Williams College as a sprint freestyler. He holds a Level 2 certification from the American Swimming Coaches Association and has been the Head Coach of the Needham High School Boys’ Swimming & Diving Team since 2005. Under his leadership, the Rockets have improved from an 0–15 start to multiple conference championships and three team sectional titles, with every school record broken during his tenure. The team was honored with the MIAA Sportsmanship Award in 2017.

Coach Cole was recognized as both the EMISCA Coach of the Year and MIAA Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year in 2018, and in 2019 he was named the NFHS Coach of the Year for Swimming for the Northeast Region.

Outside of coaching, Adam teaches personal finance and statistics at Needham High School and runs a financial advising business focused on college financing.  He continues to compete in triathlons, road races, and swimming events.

Jason Isaacs has been a part of the indoor/outdoor track & field program since 2011, spending the first 9 years as an assistant coach before being elevated to head coach of the boys team in 2020. Coach Isaacs works daily with the boys and girls throwers. Over the years, he has been able to witness some incredible individual and team performances highlighted by the 2016 indoor season where both the boys and girls won the Division 2 State Championship.

Jason grew up on Long Island (NY) and has lived in the Boston area since graduating from Boston College (BA; M.Ed). When not coaching, Jason spends his days as a math teacher and his evenings as a dad.