A solid sports program, amazing coaches and student-athletes, and steadfast support at every turn makes it easy for Marc Hattem to embrace his new role as Somers High School’s Athletic Director. He said it has been a tremendously positive experience so far and is grateful for the support that is coming from every direction.

Hattem, who has been in Somers for seven years, began as a physical education teacher at Somers Intermediate School and then moved over to the high school where he coached Varsity girls’ basketball and was Dean of Students. He replaced long time Athletic Director Roman Catalino who officially retired at the end of last year.

With an already incredibly successful athletic program to work with, Hattem said his goals are more about growing accountability, support, and opportunity for his student-athletes.

“I am looking to increase the accountability for athletes in the classroom; to always remind them that they are students first,” Hattem said. “I want to maintain the level of excellence in this program. Our teams are successful at an extremely high rate with 20 kids heading to DI, DII and DIII programs each year. I am not looking to change the culture but to fill any holes that could make things better for the kids.”

So far, Hattem has instituted the new Captains’ Club this fall. Fall sports team captains had a successful first leadership and team-building session with a West Point educator to work on team chemistry, team culture, and preemptive problem solving. More sessions with winter and spring captains are scheduled.

“In all of our programs, we want a positive culture where are students are not only great athletes but show kindness, accountability and great integrity both on and off the field,” he said

Hattem also wants to build on the success of the Student Athlete Council and have student-athletes participate in a Future Leaders Club open to all students to learn important leadership skills on and off the field.

“I want to build upon our already strong student-athlete community and create more opportunities for them to come together and learn from each other,” Hattem said.

He said the return of the 45-minute community lunch is the perfect time to implement “Lunch and Learns,” small pockets of the day for student-athletes to work on things like strength and conditioning or the ins-and-outs of recruiting.

As athletic director, Hattem said, each day is a new experience. “I definitely learn something new every day,” he said. “And I also make a mistake every day that I can learn from.” Hattem said that humility is an important part of being successful and he hopes that ideal trickles down to the student-athletes as well.

As a former coach, Hattem said he is well aware of the great sense of community and support in Somers from administration to parents, coaches, and residents who are proud of their Tuskers teams. “It all merges together to create an excellent program,” Hattem said.

(10/4/22)