NEWBURYPORT — Parents were notified by email Monday that the Newburyport High School athletic department will be run by an interim director for the foreseeable future after the principal announced the resignation of Kyle Hodsdon.
Principal Andrew Wulf said in the email that Hodsdon resigned effectively immediately “for personal reasons.”
In an email to The Daily News on Tuesday, Superintendent Sean Gallagher confirmed Hodsdon’s resignation. But since it is a personnel matter, Gallagher said he could not comment further.
The athletic director had been with the district since fall 2015, Gallagher said. Last year, he was named the Cape Ann League’s Athletic Director of the Year
Jim Antonelli, the high school’s dean of special programs, will serve as interim director for the next school year, according to Wulf’s email to parents.
Antonelli came to the district in 2023 after serving as principal for 16 years at Westford Academy, Wulf said.
Wulf added that Antonelli brings experience to the position as a varsity coach but did not say in which sport.
Antonelli has also served as a board member for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, where he sat on the tournament management committee, according to Wulf.
“In the fall of 2023, MIAA awarded him with the William Gaine Sportsmanship Award,” Wulf said. “His professional qualifications and exemplary career make Mr. Antonelli the ideal candidate to lead NHS athletics through this transition.”
Wulf said a comprehensive search for the school’s next permanent director of athletics will begin soon.
“The process for finding a suitable candidate for an athletic director role typically takes a number of months,” he said. “It is important that Newburyport find a director who can continue to develop a strong and inclusive program.”
Hodsdon’s LinkedIn page shows he also worked as an assistant principal/athletic director at Bonny Eagle High School in Standish, Maine, from November 2021 to September 2015.
Hodsdon also listed his experience as a teacher/coach in Berwick, Maine, from September 2000 to November 2012 as well as being a teacher and head basketball coach at Nashua High School from September, 1997 to September 1999.
The LinkedIn page showed that Hodsdon worked as a teacher, assistant football coach, and head baseball and basketball coach at Exeter High School from September 1994 to November 1997.
He also worked as an athletic director, teacher, and head basketball and baseball coach at Pittsfield High School from September 1990 to September 1994.
A year ago, the Cape Ann League named Hodsdon its 2022-23 Athletic Director of the Year for having “excelled in his profession and making significant contributions within the field of athletic administration at the local and state levels.”
Antonelli’s LinkedIn page only shows he worked as a principal at Westford Academy.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.