Coached Soccer At Rocktown, Harrisonburg High Schools
Rockbridge County High School has hired Anthony Marasco, a former boys soccer coach for Harrisonburg High School and Rocktown High School, as its new athletic director.
The Rockbridge County School Board announced the hire at its monthly meeting on Tuesday of last week.
Marasco, 28, replaces Adam Haynes, who is stepping down from the position after four years. Marasco will officially assume the role on July 1.
This will be Marasco’s first time serving as an athletic director. In Rocktown’s first year as a school, he coached the boys soccer team to a 16-2-1 record this spring and the Valley District title. The Raptors were the top seed in the Region 3C tournament, ending their season with a 1-0 loss to Western Albemarle in the regional semifinals.
Right after being named athletic director, Marasco watched the RC girls lacrosse team earn a 15-12 home win over Powhatan in the Region 4D semifinals. During Haynes’s tenure, the team won the last five Region 4D championships and have made five Class 4 state semifinal appearances and have played in two state championship games.
In addition to girls lacrosse, the Wildcats have had a lot of success in volleyball, swimming, wrestling and competition cheerleading, with all of those teams competing at the state level. The swimming team had two state champions, Spencer and Ali Pfaff, during Haynes’s tenure.
Last fall, Rocktown’s golf team had a respectable debut season under Marasco, showing improvement throughout the season. Prior to his time at Rocktown, Marasco coached the Harrisonburg boys soccer team for four years, making several postseason runs. In total, Marasco has nine years of experience coaching high school sports, going back to when he was in college.
“Ever since I’ve gotten into coaching, I always liked the impact you get to make on athletes,” said Marasco.
At Harrisonburg, Marasco built a strong relationship with his athletic director, Brandon Burley, who pushed Marasco to become an athletic director.
Prior to applying for the job, Marasco was familiar with the RC teams from coaching against them. “I’ve always had really good experiences and have had great interactions with the parents and community members,” he said.
Marasco already knew Haynes and RC athletic department assistant Travis Rogers from Valley District meetings, and he coached against two of the Wildcats’ coaches, David Miller in golf and Jeff Tomlin in boys soccer.
This coming school year, the Wildcats are switching to the Shenandoah District, with shorter travel distances.
Growing up, Marasco played soccer and golf and wrestled for Clarke County High School in Berryville. He went on to play Division II soccer for Shepherd University in West Virginia before transferring to Bridgewater College and switching his focus to coaching.
At Harrisonburg and Rocktown, Marasco taught career and technical education (CTE), focusing on business.
Marasco and his wife, McKinsey, a nurse at the University of Virginia, are looking forward to joining the Rockbridge County community.
As he prepares to take on the new role, Marasco said, “I think the biggest thing to start is building relationships with members of the community and athletic department.”
MARASCO
