Leavitt coach Cifelli honored for going beyond wins and losses

ROCKPORT — Leavitt Area High School coach Chris Cifelli, of Turner, was honored April 5 by the Positive Coaching Alliance at the Maine Athletic Director Conference at the Samoset Resort.

Cifelli, who coaches baseball, soccer and basketball at the Turner high school, was one of 16 New England coaches named out of more than 2,000 nominated nationwide by the PCA’s Double-Goal Coach award program. The program honors youth and high school coaches who strive to win while also pursuing the even more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports, said a news release for the organization. Each coach selected was nominated by a player, parent or fellow coach, was supported by multiple testimonials, and impressed the awards committee with his or her devotion to helping develop better athletes, better people, the organization said.

“Whatever the sport or season, Chris Cifelli coaches teams who never give up,” said Executive Director of PCA-New England Beth O’Neill Maloney. “Emphasizing both competitiveness and development in his athletes, Coach Cifelli encourages them and consistently asks them ‘Can you get better?’ Coach Cifelli is a knowledgeable educator who knows his players and their needs, physically, emotionally and educationally. He develops leaders, with smiles and laughter, and they keep coming back.”