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Cecilia “Sissy” Natoli

Clarksburg High School

R.A.I.S.E. Champion of the Year 


Natoli

Cecilia “Sissy” Natoli is approaching her 40th year as a coach in MCPS.

Natoli is a big believer in sports. Not just in competition, though of course that’s the best part for most student-athletes. But in what sports can provide for youth. Teamwork. Discipline. Focus. Punctuality.

All are important lessons on the field and in life, in a game and in a workplace. Natoli has worked hard to do the one thing that she says is the most important as an educator and a coach—build relationships with students. She is the inaugural winner of the R.A.I.S.E. Champion of the Year. R.A.I.S.E. stands for:

  • Respect and Sportsmanship
  • Academic Excellence
  • Integrity and Character
  • Spirited and Safe Competition
  • Equity and Access

“It is such an honor to receive this award,” she said. “I am surrounded by so many great coaches and great people in MCPS.” Natoli likes staying under the radar, but colleagues say it is apt that she is being recognized.

“Coach Natoli leads with honor and dignity, ensuring she is representative of the best in all of us,” Clarksburg Principal Ed Owusu wrote of her. “She has led teams to win sportsmanship awards, as well as taught and coached individuals that also coach and teach the future.”

She was an athlete in a time when there weren’t many opportunities for female athletes. She attended Winston Churchill High School, playing basketball, softball and field hockey. She attended Salisbury University and played basketball and softball.

She was hired at MCPS in 1983 and began coaching field hockey at Richard Montgomery High School. She worked as a paraeducator (then called an instructional assistant) at the now-closed Mark Twain School. She also coached junior varsity girls’ basketball, girls soccer and softball at Richard Montgomery, along with serving as assistant athletic director for about 10 years. In 2006, she arrived at Clarksburg High School, where she coaches field hockey and girls’ basketball.

One of seven kids, Natoli says she’s always been physically active and held spirited sports competitions with her siblings, especially her older brother Ross, the head baseball coach at Catholic University.

“He’s an inspiration and a role model,” she says. “We have a great respect for each other’s programs and great support for each other. Of course, we also make it competitive,” she laughed.

Natoli is a huge believer that you don’t need to be an athlete to lead an active life. “For two-and-a-half years, our kids sat behind screens, on their computers, on their phones,” she said. “That wasn’t building skills or confidence and was getting them out of shape. I’m trying to get them involved again.”

In her athletes, Natoli stresses the importance of training year-round. If you’re not training, the competition is.

“You can never beat hard work,” she says. “When you’re an athlete, it is a year-long thing. When the season is over, you should be getting better so when the on-season comes, you’re ready to compete.”