East Hampton Athletic Director Announces Plan For Retirement

Joe Vasile-Cozzo will be hanging up his hat after 15 years with East Hampton School District next year.

The 31-year athletic director, whose teams have won league and Suffolk County championships, including numerous academic and sportsmanship awards, and competed for state titles, had his letter of resignation for retirement accepted by the Board of Education Tuesday. The move is effective December 30, 2022.

“I’m really excited,” Vasile-Cozzo said December 7, laughing. “I’m grateful to the district for the years that I’ve been here, and I’m looking forward to a new chapter.”

Vasile-Cozzo said he’s been contemplating retirement for a few years, and decided this was what’s best for him and his family.

“He has overseen the growth of our athletic program and has championed geographic placement in order to support our student-athletes,” Superintendent Adam Fine said Tuesday. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best in his retirement.”

The fight for geographic placement has been near and dear to Vasile-Cozzo’s heart for years. The idea is that Section XI, the governing body of Suffolk County athletics, realigns leagues to divide schools up by location instead of enrollment.

Board of Education President J.P. Foster said he thinks it’s been a change worth fighting for, as making the drive of more than two hours to and from school districts like Amityville, Harborfields and Huntington has grown increasingly taxing on student-athletes. And busing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic have only compounded the problem.

“It’s a lot of work, and it’s kind of fallen on deaf ears over the years, but it’s finally getting some traction now,” Foster said previously. “And we’ll take it while we can.”

Section XI most recently formed a committee, with Westhampton Beach Athletic Director Kathy Masterson as its chair, to develop ideas for each sport after the four conferences approved the concept back in October. Each conference has two representatives on the committee.

“It’ll help the community,” Vasile-Cozzo said. “This will really benefit not just our students but all students.”

Section XI Executive Director Tom Combs said that, as written, Vasile-Cozzo’s proposal affects boys soccer, girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball and boys and girls track and field. Leagues for some sports — like football, lacrosse and boys volleyball — would remain unchanged because they are power-ranked, while others like tennis, golf and bowling would as well because they are already aligned geographically.

“I am working to share some ideas that I have worked on over the years with the committee,” Vasile-Cozzo said. “They will then be presented to the placement committee. The hope is that it gets implemented next fall.”

The most recent meeting was held November 23, where it was decided conferences would be split into eastern and western divisions. Originally, Vasile-Cozzo had also pitched a central conference. The next placement committee meeting is scheduled for December 21, when members of each conference will look over a proposal. The athletic director has received more and more support on the issue from colleagues over the years.

“It’s nice to see people finally get on board with it. This is a logical step,” Vasile-Cozzo said. “It’s been a long haul, and I get to see it through.”

The Board of Education will soon begin conducting an expansive search for a new athletic director and will be looking for community input throughout the process.

“We wish Joe well on his retirement,” Foster said. “It is a big position, and he will be missed. Joe, thank you for your service to our district, kids and community.”

Vasile-Cozzo is glad to have been a part of it.

“As an athletic director I can impact kids in a positive way,” he said. “And I love sports. I’m passionate about all sports. I just am very blessed that I got to work in a field that I love every day.”