Former Caldwell athlete working through COVID as HS athletic director
BELLEVILLE, N.J. (BVM) — Being a school administrator in the year 2020 has to be one of the more stressful jobs to navigate during the pandemic. School administrators such as principals, vice principals, or athletic directors have to navigate so much. They must follow the new state guidelines, while making tough decisions regarding the safety and education of their students.
Marcellino Marra is the athletic director and assistant principal at Belleville High School in Belleville, New Jersey. Marra played soccer at Caldwell University, graduating in 1999. After a 17-year run as the head soccer coach at Nutley High School, Marcellino accepted the job as the assistant principal and athletic director at Belleville in 2016. Being a part of a school administration, he understands the challenges that this pandemic has put on education.
“The challenges are just making sure we keep up with all the guidelines, keeping in contact with the state and the CDC,” said Marra. “And then making sure that we implement all of those things to the stakeholders and have communication with everyone.”
Athletic directors have had many obstacles to overcome in regards to getting their teams on the field in 2020. There are new guidelines seemingly every day that change the operations of sport programs in New Jersey. Thanks to strong leadership from the top down, Belleville has been able to have some fall athletics.
“When you are stressed out, you don’t do your best job. My job is to make sure they implemented what they had to and try to help them out as much as they can so they don’t get stressed out,” said Marra. “Was it stressful? I think it’s stressful if you make it stressful. When you’re surrounded by good people and have the right mindset. It was not an ideal situation, but we made the best of it.”
Marra spent all four years of his college life as a member of the Caldwell soccer team. He taught history at Nutley High School and was the head soccer coach for 17 seasons. Being part of a team, playing, and coaching a sport for that long taught him many lessons he needed in order to succeed in his current position.
“One of my club soccer coaches was always telling me, ‘losers make excuses, winners find solutions so find a solution’. I have gone on to use that as a coach and at my job. Not to call anyone a loser, but what it means is that if you look for a solution to your problems, it will likely be there,” said Marra. “That is what I do everyday. My job is to solve problems.”
Soccer has had a rather large impact on Marra’s life, especially when he played at Caldwell. Marra learned multiple lessons like the importance of working as a unit, as well as the importance of diversity and accountability. Soccer is a collaborative process, and so is running a high school. All of these lessons are extremely important to running a successful school and athletic programs.
“I got to play with people from different parts of New Jersey and people from all over the world. When I was there we had a teammate from Iceland, a teammate from Romania, and a teammate from Ireland. It was a different kind of group, but it all seemed to work out,” said Marra. “My favorite memory is being with the guys and representing the school. It’s amazing to me whenever I drive by the school I get those old memories back.”
During Marra’s time at Caldwell, he learned important life lessons and formed valuable relationships with teammates, coaches, and teachers. Many people at Caldwell had an impact on his life, but nobody more than religion and philosophy teacher and priest, Father Davis.
“He was a brilliant man and a philosophy teacher. He really got you to think,” said Marra. “His class was not easy at all. Him and I have had some amazing conversations about life. He was just a cool guy to talk to especially when you’re young. There was always a different feeling talking to him. When I think about Caldwell I think about him. He always seemed like he tried to help people, and I’ve always tried to follow that and try to be a leader like he was.”
Marcellino Marra has an incredibly hard and important job that has been made even tougher by the pandemic. These are tough waters to navigate for educators and school administrators at every level. However, the lessons Marra has learned through playing soccer and attending Caldwell University have prepared him for the challenge.
