Coach Mike Caprigno strategizes with the English High Volleyball team during a tight game.

English High School staff member Mike Caprigno, who has been teaching and coaching at English High School since 2011, earned his B. A. at Framingham State where he also got his Master’s in History, Secondary Education and Special Education.

Recently, we caught up with Mike between classes, coaching, hobbies, and downtime with his wife and their dog Duncan. Last June he married a former EHS teacher who coached the volleyball and softball teams before him.  She left EHS when she was admitted to medical school. She’s now a first-year resident at Boston Children’s Hospital.

We asked Mike to share some ‘inside softball’ — secrets to inspiring today’s high schoolers to study, play and work hard: “Sports are important to help young athletes build confidence, make friends, and find their place in the school community. Our athletes are held to a very high standard and become leaders. Involvement in sports increases their attendance and they do better academically. Kids that were once disengaged find a reason to be more involved and flourish. Many kids have told us that the field/court is a place where they can forget their problems.”

And what makes his student athletes excel? Mike, who played varsity hockey at Somerville High,     says, “Students should find what they are passionate about and work towards that. Never settle and let yourself be put into a box. Work to better yourself and to be happy. It takes a lot of relationship building and encouragement. I’m successful when I convince students/athletes to see themselves as successful and see what they can achieve and build confidence.”

Mike has made some innovations and started to build for the future: “I became the softball head coach in 2018 and the volleyball head coach in 2019. In recent years we have been developing younger players and are excited to have so many ninth and eighth graders to build the program. We started EHS’s first-ever JV Volleyball team in 2021 and our first JV Softball team last season. Both teams are coached by EHS Alumni, Heidy Barreiro ’14 (Volleyball), and Vicky Barrantes ‘20 (Softball). My first year in softball we made the tournament for the first time in about a decade and made it again in 2021 and 2022. For volleyball, we made the tournament my first season in 2019 and 2021, but have fallen short the last couple seasons.”

Mike coached the Debate Team for 11 years but has bowed out the last couple seasons due to hectic sports schedules.

Mike sums up his goal: “It takes a lot of relationship building and encouragement. Helping to make sure my students/athletes see themselves as successful and see what they can achieve/build confidence within themselves.”