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Hudson hires Massaro

Former Mitchell weightlifting, tennis coach is ready to return to the sport she knows best.

By FRANK PASTOR
Published August 4, 2005

HUDSON - Her father, Tom, attended her games when she was growing up and cheered for the tennis and weightlifting squads she coached at Mitchell.

So, when he died in February at age 72 after a stroke, Flo Massaro took time away from her job responsibilities to reassess her goals.

"It just put things in perspective," she said.

Among the things Massaro realized was she wanted to coach basketball, the sport she played in high school and knew best. She will get that chance at Hudson.

Massaro replaces two-time Cobras coach Doreen Grote, who returned to the program last season after a three-year absence. Massaro also will work with athletic director Linda McQuade as the athletics business manager and teach history.

Massaro is excited to be reunited with assistant principal Dave LaRoche, whom she worked with at Mitchell. But she has mixed feelings about leaving the school where her nephew, Ryan Garton, will be a sophomore baseball and football player.

"That was the hardest thing, to call and tell him I'm leaving," Massaro said. "He's young, so he was kind of mad. It kind of breaks my heart because I love him to death, but he knows this is a good opportunity for me."

Massaro, 34, of New Port Richey said her interest in education leadership prompted her to seek a bigger program with more responsibility.

At Mitchell, Massaro was a proponent for more girls sports. So much so, she took on weightlifting, a sport she knew little about, in an effort to create more opportunities. She got more than 20 girls to join the program each of her two seasons, including 2005 state qualifiers Leah Tsagaris (who placed eighth) and Cristen McCarthy (13th).

Massaro's tennis teams placed second in the district in 2004 and third last season. Kaylynn and Ashley Newman narrowly missed qualifying for states in tennis but made all-conference in tennis and weightlifting.

Before arriving at Mitchell, Massaro served as ninth-grade head coach and varsity assistant girls basketball coach under Brian Colding at River Ridge.

One thing that was missing at Mitchell and River Ridge was tradition, Massaro said, since both schools are relatively new. That won't be the case at Hudson, where McQuade has more than 300 wins and three state semifinal appearances in 15 seasons as volleyball coach.

"One thing I admire at Hudson is the longevity of Coach McQuade," Massaro said. "She's been here so long, her volleyball program is incredible and I feel this is going to be a long-term move for me. I don't want to be a fly-by-night coach at Hudson. I want to stick with a program and really build it."

[Last modified August 4, 2005, 01:05:20]