When Matt Memoli first got into coaching after graduating from college he had the down-the-road goal of becoming a school athletic director. That was to be a couple decades - or more - into his career.

Fast forward less than ten years and Memoli, 31, is already in the driver's seat of Newtown High School's athletics program. It was made official at the Board of Education meeting on November 15, that Memoli is the Newtown High athletic director.

It's all paperwork at this point. Since the summer, when longtime NHS athletic director Gregg Simon stepped down, Memoli has served as the interim AD.

"It happened much faster," Memoli said of his career path reaching this point. "I couldn't be more ecstatic about the opportunity. These opportunities are few and far between."

Especially given Memoli lives in town and plans to stay here. Memoli notes that there are big moments in one's life, such as getting married and having children - he and his wife, Megan, have two children; McKenna is 3, and Bryce is 8 months - and landing the job at Newtown High is one in which he takes great pride.

"This is right up there after those in terms of big milestones in your life," Memoli said.

The Board of Education voted unanimously for Memoli to be the district athletic director, effective November 16. Board of Education Chair Keith Alexander said his board appreciates Memoli's work.

"I wanted to thank everyone involved in the entire process, and thank you to all of you for the appointment." Memoli said at the meeting. "It is an absolute honor for me."

Being the AD involves wearing a variety of hats, Memoli notes. He serves as a mentor for coaches and student-athletes and there's a business/finance side to the job with budgeting for athletics programs. Memoli believes in working with athletes to build interpersonal and personal skills, teaching student-athletes not to make excuses, and to take ownership when the time calls for it. Memoli immediately got his feet wet with the process of hiring a new coach when he hired Becky Osborne, the girls' swim coach, and he has been working to fill voids for winter and spring squads. Memoli speaks highly of the Newtown High staff, which includes longtime fixtures in the department.

Memoli brings experience in coaching and teaching, having coached the NHS baseball team and served as a physical education teacher in the district, and possesses lots of energy, passion, and enthusiasm for helping mold and develop student-athletes - making them the best they can be on and off the field.He also got pointers from Simon, whom Memoli says is a legend in school sports who did the job at a high level.

"You want to be able to continue it at that same level, which is a very daunting task," said Memoli, adding that his goal is to continue to build an already practically bursting-at-the-seams athletic department as there is demand.

Newtown High has 28 varsity programs, most of which have junior varsity and freshman teams. If interest grows to justify the need for more JV and freshman lineups, Memoli looks forward to helping make that a reality for the up-and-coming athletes. He's been in touch with area girls' hockey coaches and a small handful of Newtown High girls to connect them with co-op teams so they have an opportunity to lace up the skates this winter. All told, there are more than 50 squads between the three sports seasons.

Memoli coached Newtown High's baseball team for seven seasons after working as a volunteer assistant coach with Yale University's baseball team for a year and a half. He played baseball at Shelton High and Central Connecticut State University.

"In this role I feel such a connection to every single team," Memoli said.