Although our fields, courts, and trails are empty for a few more weeks as we await the return of fall athletic camps, when our student athletes arrive, they will do so inspired by a competitive spring sports season that saw postseason runs for boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, tennis, and girls soccer; a boys first-doubles tennis state championship; historic crew outcomes, even at a weather-shortened Stotesbury Regatta; and more.

When our athletes succeed, they do so with the anchoring guidance, wisdom, and spirit of their coaches. Three such St. Andrew’s coaches were recognized this year with Delaware Independent School Conference Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year awards. The St. Andrew’s baseball program, helmed by History Department Chair and Head Baseball Coach Matt Edmonds and Modern Language Department Chair and Assistant Baseball Coach David Miller, was doubly honored: Edmonds was awarded DISC Coach of the Year and Miller awarded DISC Assistant Coach of the Year. First-time Girls Head Soccer Coach Megan Altig, who also serves as assistant director of advancement operations, also won DISC Coach of the Year.

Altig, along with former Head Girls Soccer Coach Matt Carroll, has been working to build the girls soccer program for years. Her mindset going into her first year as head coach was pretty simple: “Don’t screw it up!” she says, laughing. “For four years, [Matt] Carroll and I had been building and teaching, and I was able to find out my coaching philosophies along the way, particularly as we were trying to instill certain principles in our athletes, like getting them to understand the importance of the little things in soccer, like good defending or completing a five- to ten-yard pass.”

Despite losing five key seniors from the 2024 squad, which set a new school record for wins in one season, Altig was confident in her new team’s potential, and set two goals for 2025 Saints girls soccer: emerge as the conference champ, and make a postseason run. The team did both, although, due to a tie in the win column with another school in the conference, St. Andrew’s shared the title as a conference co-champion. Ranked No. 8 going into the state tournament, the team lost in the quarterfinal game against No. 1 Caravel. 

Altig, a decorated collegiate soccer player, was pleasantly surprised to find that as she was teaching skills to the girls, she was also on the receiving end of some interesting lessons. “I learned more about myself than I'd expected,” she says. Those learning moments came as she felt the weight of her new responsibilities, like navigating tough conversations with players. “At the end of the day, it’s on me now,” she says. “I spent a lot of time thinking about, ‘What is best for the team, and what is going to help make us successful?’”

Altig says she strived to create an environment where players could resolve issues independently, fostering a sense of ownership and safety, and emphasized the soccer pitch as a place of refuge from external pressures. “The next two hours, just be in the moment together, have fun, and forget about life,” she says. “I wanted to create a culture that is safe, where they feel comfortable, confident, loved, and that they have somebody in the corner. At the same time, I want us to be as competitive as we can be.”

She already can't wait until next season. “Our last few senior classes have been pretty large, so we’ve had a lot of leadership in each class as they’ve become seniors, and this [incoming] class is no different,” she says. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how they step into their roles as  leaders. And something I look forward to every year is seeing what this new team, with new players and new dynamics, can accomplish, and being on the journey with them. Everyone grows so much. To see where they start and how they finish is always one of my favorite parts of coaching.”

While Altig says being named Coach of the Year feels pretty darn good, the real reward for her is witnessing the journey. “I love seeing the moment the light bulb goes off,” she says. “It’s incredible to see what that moment of clarity and understanding does for a player and for their confidence. The award is nice, but it’s really a reflection of the players.”

For Edmonds and Miller, the baseball diamond is a sanctuary. Both have been around the game since Little League, with Miller playing through college. Miller, one of the longest-tenured members of any coaching staff at St. Andrew’s, has been involved with leadership of the baseball team for 25 years. “You learn a lot over that time,” says Miller. “The greatest teacher that I had during my coaching career has been Bob Colburn. His influence continues to pervade our program, and my thoughts about baseball and coaching.”

Miller says one of his most important lessons along the way, particularly when it comes to how he evolved his coaching philosophy, was pivoting from the idea that there is one way to do something and therefore one way to coach. “I realized that while it seems like there should be a one-size-fits-all approach to certain baseball mechanics—you throw a ball like this, you catch a ball like this—that’s not really the case,” he says. “I’ve learned to really individualize my coaching to fit each player on the team.” A standout for him this past season was working with pitcher Toby Nix ’26, trying out new approaches to his stuff. “It's been rewarding to watch a kid like Toby grow into himself over the past few seasons,” he says. 

Also rewarding, says Miller, is the coaching honor. “It's certainly nice to get a moment of personal acclaim, but more than that, it’s recognition of the improvement and success of our program, so much of which owes to Matt’s [Edmonds] leadership and the commitment of our players,” he says.

Edmonds says he and Miller have a good give and take, which is why he was thrilled to put Miller’s name forth for the assistant coach award. “He has real character and commitment to this team,” Edmonds says. “I’m flattered to have gotten this coaching award, but I’m just as happy that Dave got it, because this is very much a partnership I value.”

Edmonds echoes the importance of individualized coaching, particularly when it comes to St. Andrew’s athletics. “On of the unique things about St. Andrew’s is that we have such a wide range of not only ability levels, but also commitment levels, because of the school’s multisport requirement,” he says. “We have kids for whom baseball is love. And then we also have kids who say, ‘I've never played baseball before, but it looks like fun.’ We need to reach all those kids, and understand their different relationships to the sport.”

On paper, the 2025 Saints baseball season ended a few games under .500, with a 7-10 record. But what’s not evident in the record, Edmonds says, is an “elevated competitiveness.” He says he turned this year’s focus to “learn how to compete,” which included enhancing the daily grind at practice. “Last year we had a lot of games where if we got down by three or four runs, that was it,” Edmonds says. “We would just pack it in. And this year it was like, no. We're going to play seven, win or lose. We’re going to throw everything we have at them and see how it works out.” He says the newfound spirit was evident. “We had one game that really wasn’t competitive. It would’ve been easy for us to come into that second game against this same team and say, ‘Well, we lost by 16 last time, and so we won’t even show up.’ They didn’t do that. We played from behind a lot and fought back, and that became our identity.”

As for his own identity, Edmonds’ decision to become a coach was shaped by his high school baseball experience, including being a role player on a state championship team. “I came to appreciate that not everyone’s going to be the star, that a bullpen catcher is an important role,” he says. After a relationship with a coach that he felt was “simply transactional,” Edmonds knew what kind of coach he’d never be. “If at the end of the day it’s only about winning and losing, that’s kind of toxic,” he says.

As an added bonus to being named coaches of the year, Edmonds and Miller coached in the Blue-Gold Bob Colburn All-Star Baseball Game—so named for Colburn, the St. Andrew’s legend—in June at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington. The game ended in a 9-9 tie. “It was a really good experience,” says Edmonds, “particularly because I got to do it with Dave, and because Ray [Quinones ’25] got to play on our team.”