Glastonbury soccer coach Mark Landers is back in his familiar spot on the sidelines this fall, but for the first time in 21 seasons, he’s heading up the girls' team.
Landers won his 300th game as the boys' coach last fall. This year, he handed the reins to assistant coach Chris Vozzolo. While the boys have won five titles in the last eight years, the girls are similarly successful, they've won four titles since 2014. They're undefeated 7-0 so far this season.
Landers said he was looking for a new challenge, but coaching the girl’s squad does come with an added bonus: his twin daughters Mackenzie and Kelsey.
“He didn't tell us he was putting an application in,” said Kelsey. “He told us when we were at the beach … he's like, 'Oh, you're looking at your new head coach,' and both our faces were like ‘what?’”
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“He can be Dad when we're at home and coach when we're here, which I love,” Mackenzie said.
“I try to really look at them as players and not my kids, even though I love them very much,” Mark Landers said.
The family tradition doesn’t stop there: Landers’ father, Bob, was the Glastonbury girls soccer coach for 10 seasons until he retired.
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“It was a no-brainer for me,” said Landers. “I was a student here. I graduated from here in ‘89. You know just the culture of the program is just so amazing, the girls are amazing, yeah the icing on the cake is having these two here, which has been spectacular.”
