Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/30/2022
LONGMEADOW – For many people, football and Thanksgiving are inseparable. At this year’s Longmeadow High School (LHS) Thanksgiving Day game, the school gave thanks for a former coach by recognizing his years of service to the district.
Coach Alex Rotsko was honored during halftime at the home game against the East Longmeadow High School Spartans. A stone plaque at the entrance to the field was dedicated to Rotsko and a reception was hosted after the game.
Rotsko coached football at Longmeadow High School for 19 years, from 1993 to 2012 when he moved to York Beach, ME, with his wife. Rotsko took a teaching and coaching position at Marshwood High School, a regional school in Berwick, ME. Although he finished teaching five years ago, Rotsko recently finished his 10th season coaching there – the 44th season of his coaching career.
“I love the game. The strategies, the competitiveness and, most importantly, getting to work with great players,” Rotsko said.
The coach used to play football in high school and at Springfield College. After earning a master’s degree at Ithaca College in New York, Rotsko became a coach there. When he spoke with Reminder Publishing a few days before Thanksgiving, he noted that there was an upcoming game between Springfield College and Ithaca College. “No matter who wins, I can’t lose,” he joked.
In 1993, Rotsko, who was then coaching at American International College, was invited to join the athletic faculty at LHS as a teacher and coach.
“At [LHS], I was a teacher and eventually, the athletic director. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about teaching,” Rotsko said, but “I just found it really rewarding.”
According to a press release on the ceremony honoring Rotsko, the Lancers “compiled a 184-39 record’ during Rotsko’s tenure at LHS, and “set records with a 47-game win streak.” Longmeadow won 11 Super Bowls during his tenure. Rotsko was awarded a national leadership award by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Rotsko coached hundreds of players at LHS and has countless memories from his time at the school.
“The first Super Bowl win was one that stands out. We were pretty big underdogs,” Rotsko said. That year, in which the LHS Lancers bested the Nashoba Regional High School Wolves, kicked off a 15-year streak of making it to the Massachusetts high school Super Bowl and winning 11 of those games.
Reflecting on his time at LHS, Rotsko said, “It’s a great place to work, great atmosphere. It’s really a great honor to be recognized by a school with the academics and athletic programs at LHS.”