By Michael Nocella

The Weedsport Central School District’s Board of Education approved the appointment of Jon Sgarlata as its new athletic director for the 2025-26 school year, which begins on July 1, 2025.

Sgarlata is already a longtime staff member of the district, and said he is very excited to step into this new role. Superintendent Gregory M. Stone said he was looking forward to seeing how Sgarlata’s vision for Weedsport’s Athletics takes shape during the upcoming school year.

“We are pleased to welcome Jon as our new Athletic Director, bringing years of experience and a strong commitment to Weedsport’s students,” Stone said. 

“As a visionary leader,” he continued, “he will continue to help guide an inclusive, student-focused program that promotes character, achievement, and excellence across all areas of athletics. We look forward to building on the strong foundation already in place to further support the diverse needs of our student-athletes and community.”

We recently spoke with Sgarlata about his new position. Here is that conversation below:

Q: How long have you taught at Weedsport? 

Sgarlata: I am currently finishing my 16th year teaching and coaching at Weedsport (19th overall). In that time I have served as the primary Health Teacher in the district in grades 6 through 12. 

Q: What is your athletic background, and what have you coached and/or played in the past?

Sgarlata: My parents both grew up as athletes, and so they put me and my siblings in a bunch of sports when we were young and as I grew older I began to pick and choose. I graduated from Solvay High School where I played football, basketball, and baseball. The coaches I played for in high school were very impactful men in my life at a young age and along with my dad they became the model for how I wanted to be as an adult. I played both football and baseball in college and graduated from SUNY Brockport with a dual major in Health Science and Sport Management. I have coached a number of different sports over the years at all levels both boys and girls teams. Most notably during my time at Weedsport I have been a football and basketball coach. Football I have been both an assistant and head coach. For Basketball I coached girls JV for 6 seasons before becoming Boys head varsity coach over the past 10 seasons. 

Q: How did this opportunity present itself to you, and what made you eager to take it?

Sgarlata: I have had interest before about possibly pursuing athletic director jobs but felt that would most likely mean I would have to look for a job elsewhere. Ultimately, I have loved my time as a teacher and coach at school, and never would want to leave our district. The way the athletic director job is structured at school puts me in a position where I will still be able to teach a couple classes, and also coach. The reality that I will get to work with all the teams and coaches while also still being connected to the general student body is a unique opportunity that I felt well suited for. 

Q: What is your vision for Weedsport Athletics?

Sgarlata: Weedsport has a proud and longstanding tradition of success across many sports. A scholastic athletic program, especially one that exists in a small school, is best when it provides opportunities in the athletic arenas that develop the total child and is just an extended part of their education at school. There are so many lessons that you learn in sports that are very difficult to teach in a traditional classroom setting. My main vision is to ensure that we are providing the best athletic experience possible for our student-athletes and coaches. If the overall experience is positive, then I feel I would be a successful athletic director because I am helping young people develop. Growing up as an athlete and then transitioning into a coach, I know that winning and losing will happen. I want to support coaches that teach young people how to be on time, eat healthy, build relationships, work towards goals, take pride in how they live, and compete. 

Q: What will be some of your bigger priorities as you transition into this position?

Sgarlata: My initial two big priorities that I will be focusing on is increasing our participation numbers along with working with student-athletes and coaches managing their mental health. It is a well-documented national issue that sport participation and sport burnout are at all-time highs. I have had a much higher focus on this area with the teams I coach and recognize the struggle that many go through to participate in athletics. I will also be looking forward to watching all our different coaches run their teams. We all have our own styles in education and learning how the different teams and sports function will be an exciting learning curve for me. 

Q: What do you think are some of the bigger challenges presenting itself to Weedsport athletics at this time?

Sgarlata: Like many schools our class sizes have gotten smaller. This has impacted the number of athletes we have to spread to all our teams. The decline in enrolment over the years has coincided with an increase in the amount of time athletes are expected to spend on their sport, more distractions with social media, part-time jobs that pay $18-$20 per hour, and just more choices for modern teenagers in terms of extracurricular activities. Many schools are merging sports team, and so you may be in a difficult situation to remain competitive if you have a team with very low numbers of players. The challenge is offering as many opportunities as possible for kids without stretching the overall talent pool so thin that you can’t do anything really well. 

Q: How would you describe your vision for what Weedsport Athletics should aspire to be, and how will you ensure the district strives towards that?

Sgarlata: Weedsport Athletics should be an inclusive program that can offer entry opportunities for athletes just starting out in a sport all the way up to athletes that can be challenged in a way that prepares them to compete at the college level. It should be emphasized that building good relationships with teammates and coaches is a top priority. We will not win at all costs at school and will put the health and wellbeing of the student athlete first. When we do have teams or athletes that win championships or awards we will celebrate them as a community. 

Q: What is something you would like the community to know about you as you step into this role?

Sgarlata: Every decision that I make as Athletic Director will be made with the best intentions to serve the student athletes. They are my main priority and the reason I wanted to work in education. 

Q: What are you most excited about when you think about becoming Weedsport’s Athletic Director?

Sgarlata: I am excited to be able to support our student athletes and coaches pursuing success in the sports they are passionate about. Go Wolverines!