Mom and daughter, father and son, and even a grandfather, will be together on the field and sideline as the lacrosse season begins for West Hartford’s Conard High School.  

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

If it is true that the family that plays together stays together, don’t look for anyone to move out of the Cersosimo home anytime soon.

As the lacrosse season gets underway, the Conard boys and girls programs have very unique situations. For the boys, head coach Matt Cersosimo returns for his 10th season and has his son, Brady, returning on the team. For girls head coach Meg Cersosimo, it is season 14  as head coach, and her daughter Caroline (CC) returns to the team as a sophomore. Oh, and Matt’s father and CC’s grandfather, Rob Cersosimo, is an assistant on the girls team. He’s also an assistant on the boys football team where – you guessed it – Matt is the head coach and Brady is the starting quarterback for the Red Wolves.

“Here (on the field) I’m just the coach,” said Meg of the balance she and CC strike. “I’ve told her after she made varsity last year that if she wants to talk about it that’s fine, but she has to bring it up. Otherwise, I am just Mom away from the field.”

“After we get in the car,” said CC, “she’s Mom.”

In some ways, the mother-daughter/coach-player relationship has always been the norm. “It feels natural for me,” said CC. “My mom has been my coach my whole life. Learning from her is a blessing.”

Meg has actually coached many of her players through youth lacrosse as well as in the Conard program. “For me I feel like I have 12 or 13 daughters on the team.”

For Brady and his father, Matt, part of the journey has been figuring out a way to navigate two sports. “We have separation at home,” said Matt. “When I was playing football for my father at Conard, my mom had a rule that there was no talk about games or practices at the dinner table.”

Brady has a similar approach as his sister to having a parent as a coach. “At home I try not to talk about it but if we do I bring it up,” said the junior, “we make sure we respect each other.” But Brady does have one advantage when it comes to talking football – his grandfather (and his father’s former coach), Rob, is there to lend an ear when needed as well.

For CC – who would like to  play in college – her Mom is not a bad person to learn from. Meg – then known as Meg Campbell – played at UConn and was part of the school’s first women’s lacrosse recruited class. She was named All-Big East Second Team as a senior and to the North Regional All-American Second Team. Serving as a captain in her junior and seniors years, she left as the school career record-holder in games started, ground balls, and draw controls.

After graduation, Meg also served as an assistant coach with the program, later becoming the Huskies head coach. It was at UConn where she and Matt first met, when both were coaches in Storrs. Now both are not only coaches but also educators in the West Hartford Public Schools district.

Having a parent as a coach can bring some added pressure for all involved. There will always be people who say that the son or daughter of a coach is getting playing time or opportunities simply because of who the coach is. When CC earned a spot on the varsity lacrosse team as a freshman it drew some comments, but she and her mom both say there is only one way to handle it. “I hear it sometimes that ‘she’s the coaches daughter,’” said CC. “But my teammates have my back and know how hard I work.”

For Matt and Brady, the approach is much the same – control what you can and do the best you can. “I know it’s part of the deal,” said Matt, who went through it when he played football at Conard with his father as the coach. “He has a good head on his shoulder and nothing is given to anyone on the team. I treat him the same, if not a little harder than the other kids.”

Brady says he hears it all the time but shows them he deserves to play with how hard he works and how well he plays. “There are some ups and downs, but it is a privilege to have him as my coach. I don’t know of any other kids in the state  that are that lucky,” Brady said of having his dad as his coach.

Meg actually was Brady’s first football coach with the West Hartford Youth Program and when asked about it, she laughs and then shares her appreciation for the opportunity. “I coached Brady for nine years in football, and I have coached CC and her teammates since first grade, so it’s not weird anymore.”

Brady remembers the time playing football with his mom as coach fondly. “She was the rock,” he said. “ She’s just a natural coach.”

Coaching is something that has been in the Cersosimo family for decades. Matt’s father, Rob, served as head coach at Conard High School starting in the 1980s, while his grandfather and the kids great grandfather, Bob McKee, was the head coach at West Hartford’s Hall High School from 1951 to 1956 before moving to Conard where he was head coach from 1957-1984. The athletic stadium at Conard is named for McKee.

Both Matt and Meg have carried on that tradition not only coaching high school teams but also coaching youth teams, hosting clinics, and working with West Hartford’s youth. The example they set is not lost on CC or Brady. “They both give back because the community has been so great to us,” said Brady. “They are helping kids learn and grow.”

“I am unbelievably proud of my parents, their work ethic is incredible, “CC said. “Coaching is so insanely hard to do. When I come home they are my rock.” While Brady may have his father as his coach for two sports, CC has her mother for her coach on lacrosse and her Aunt Laurie (Matt’s sister) as her coach on the very successful Red Wolves girls basketball team. You can usually catch Laurie Cersosimo at any of Brady’s games and at CC’s lacrosse games, and Matt, Meg, and Brady rarely miss the chance to root for CC and her basketball teammates.

“I am super fortunate to have the chance to see my daughter play not only as a parent but also as her coach,” said Meg. And the good news for Meg … there is still one more daughter making her way through the ranks of the town schools. So, we may be seeing  another Cersosimo patrolling the courts or fields of Conard in just a few years.

It is not all about athletics or success on the field that matters for Meg, Matt, Brady, or CC. “They  both are great humans and teammates,” Meg said. “They just put their heads down and work.”

Matt said he is always Dad first but has to be a coach at the same time and that Brady understands that. “It has been the joy of my life to coach my son,” he said. “Coaching him two seasons a year allows me to spend time with him in something we are both passionate about.”

The feeling is mutual for the  brother and sister who realize how fortunate they are to have this time with their parents. “It is a privilege to have this opportunity every day,” Brady said. “ It is such a great thing having both parents at school and also coaching. Dad is my role model and I look up to him. I never say I wish my parents weren’t my coach.”

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