In high school, Samantha Tropiano, the new JV Volleyball coach at Morgan, had a tough relationship with her coach. One day, in her senior year, she attempted to go to her athletic director because of the many complaints from students and parents about her head volleyball coach. When her coach discovered she went to the athletic director, Mrs. Tropiano was benched for the rest of her senior year and a meeting was held. Finally, after more people had started to reach out, the coach was fired. Tropiano has never forgotten this experience, and as she starts her first year with Morgan Volleyball, she hopes to bring a new dynamic and community to the team.
Mrs. Tropiano said, “I was happy to have changed the cycle for the team behind me, and I learned many things from that coach despite the troubles we went through, me sticking up for myself then, changed the way I spoke up for myself the rest of her life.”
Samantha Tropiano is now a health Teacher at Jared Eliot Middle School. She played volleyball for four years at North Haven High School and played for fun at Southern Connecticut State University during the winter. She also played rugby for Southern Connecticut State University.
She studied nursing in at Southern because she wanted to be a midwife. But this changed after she studied abroad in Guatemala and learned about the discrepancies within cultures about teaching kids how to protect themselves; she discovered teaching was what she was meant to pursue.
Mrs. Tropiano stated how volleyball has taught her most things she now knows as an adult. “Collaboration with people, learning how to work together, communicate. Also, persevere.” Mrs. Tropiano stated, “I didn’t always agree with a lot of what my coach was about and her motto/motivation for how she coached us, but she did teach me to discipline through that and how to work harder.”When it came to coaching. Mrs. Tropiano wanted to do the same for her team but with her own approach.
When Mrs. Tropiano first came to Clinton for teaching, the JV Volleyball Coach position was open, however, she says, “I didn’t have the confidence in myself.” When the position opened back up, she wanted to show everyone her passion for volleyball. Not only this, since Mrs. Tropiano is the middle school health teacher, she already knows all the girls on the team and says coaching is, “a cool way to stay connected with you guys and keep volleyball in my life.”
The number one inspiration for Mrs. Tropiano is her sister. Her sister was a great volleyball player. She had broken records for their high school team for the amount of aces in a game. She had gone on to play volleyball for the University of New Haven which at the time was a D2 school. Her sister inspired her not only as an athlete but as a person. “I had always looked up to her, her values, the way she had gotten along with people, and her relationships.” Mrs. Tropiano had always “followed in her footsteps, but never lived in her shadow.”
It is more than halfway through the high school volleyball season and Mrs. Tropiano has already had an impact on the players. Sophomore player Bianca Nascimento said, “She has brought passion into being our coach. You can tell that she truly cares for our team and wants to be there with us.”
Mrs. Tropiano is excited to be part of Morgan Volleyball and hopes to share her love and passion for the sport and teach her team the “collaboration, communication, and perseverance” she was taught from volleyball.
