This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/12/2016 12:00 AMThe Haddam-Killingworth boys’ golf team is featuring a familiar face as its new head coach this spring in Josh Hagewood.
Josh played four seasons of varsity golf and was a two-year captain for Coach Joe Wisniewski at North Branford High School, where he was a member of the Class of 2005. After graduating from Rutgers University and earning his master’s for teaching from Quinnipiac, Josh was hired at HK in 2011 and is currently a social studies teacher at the school. The last two springs, Josh was an assistant coach for the HK girls’ golf squad and now he’s in the midst of his first campaign as head coach for the Cougars’ boys.
“I didn’t play golf in college, but I learned a lot from my coach and playing in high school and so I still wanted to be around it. I love the game’s competitiveness and it gives you a lot of time to reflect on things,” says Josh, who still lives in North Branford. “The school needed someone to coach the team, asked me to do it, and I said yes. I played versus HK in high school and a lot of the courses and teams are still the same, so it’s a neat experience.”
As an educator first and foremost, Josh says that academics are the most-important facet in the life of a student-athlete. On that same subject of life, he feels that no sport mimics it quite like golf considering the lessons one learns on the links.
“School always comes first. It’s the bedrock of what we do. Golf is also a thinking person’s game. It requires patience and planning, which are tools to be successful in any universe,” Josh says. “It’s a microcosm of real life in that it’s challenging, frustrating, and you have to put in extraordinary time towards it. You can’t give up on it and it’s a labor of love. Hard work, being honest, and enjoying the game are essentials to me.”
HK Athletic Director Lynne Flint describes Josh as a master motivator both on the course and in the classroom who always displays the utmost positivity.
“Josh is a valued member of the [Haddam-Killingworth High School] faculty in the social studies department with a proven track record of connecting with students and leading them to learn. He is also an experienced golfer and has served our girls’ program for the last two years,” says Flint. “A successful member of our coaching staff, Josh has shown his dedication and is always positive in his feedback to students, encouraging each to perform at their own personal best. I am excited to continue to work with Josh as he assumes his new position.”
Golf is a highly technical game that requires much mastery and so Josh loves having an impact on his players by encouraging them to perform to their potential. He’s also aiming to further cultivate a culture of class and respect among HK’s golfers.
“You get to unlock players’ potential as a coach and golf is a hard game without help. I love being able to be a set of eyes and to also see someone excited at the prospect of doing well. I take great pride in that,” says Josh. “I want to win, but that’s secondary to other things, as we are also teaching young men to become good people, and high school golf requires you to be honest.”
Something else Josh wants to see this season is for the Cougars to shave a few strokes off their final scores in the club’s quest to reach postseason play as a group. In terms of the future, he wants his athletes to appreciate what the HK golf program can teach them for the road ahead.
“I’d love for our scores as a team to remain consistent and avoid big scores on the card. I told them already that it’s not about going low, but rather not going too high. I also want to make states and I think it can happen,” says Josh. “In the long term, I want guys to come back and say they learned a lot about the game and life from HK golf.”