Millis boys soccer won't field varsity team, as new coaches take over it and girls team

The soccer landscape at Millis shifted dramatically Thursday.

New coaches will take over both the boys and girls programs, Millis athletic director Derek Phinney announced.

Reg Wilcox is the new boys head coach after previously serving as a varsity assistant for the past six years under previous coach Jason O'Brien left the program in the spring for a job in Douglas . He was involved with possession drills, substitutions and designing practice plans as an active assistant.

"When the opportunity I felt I was ready to take on that next step," Wilcox said. "I enjoy working with the high school players contributing to their success and education on and off the field."

He will take over at a unique time for the program. Millis will not field a varsity team this fall, Phinney confirmed in an email to the Daily News, due to low numbers and the competition level in the Tri-Valley League. Millis' roster will be largely composed of underclassmen and middle schoolers, so the team will play a JV schedule and reset.

'We saved the program': How Bellingham softball skipping a varsity season saved it

"The future is bright for Millis boys soccer. We have a lot of seventh- and eighth-graders coming up through the program that have a lot of great talent, and we have some underclassmen that can contribute a great deal,” Wilcox said. “We’re making sure the level of play they compete against is appropriate so they can keep developing their skills."

The decision is not without precedent. Millis constricted to a JV-only program once before more than a decade ago and bounced back.

"The biggest goals are to be competitive with the games we’re playing and ensure we advance people’s skillset and build the program back to compete at the varsity level as soon as is feasible," Wilcox said.

Millis went 2-15-2 last season but qualified for the Division 5 state tournament due to its power ranking, losing in the preliminary round.

Familiar face Steve Bigelow will head girls team

Steve Bigelow described himself as a "Millis sports superfan." He has taught English at the school for the past 13 years, and will take over the girls soccer program this fall.

"I’m incredibly passionate and enthusiastic in the classroom, and that’s the same attitude I will take to the soccer program,” Bigelow said. “Millis needs coaches that have that positivity, that overwhelming enthusiasm and dedication. To compete, everyone has to be all in all the time."

His most recent coaching experience comes at the youth level in Holliston, where he lives. Bigelow led Holliston's Boston Area Youth Soccer (BAYS) team to the Division 1A President's Cup final. He coached a girls select team in Holliston for the past three years and was a high school baseball and boys soccer coach more than a decade ago in the Boston Public School System.

"Millis is such a small school. I know every single kid in the building and just about every single name on the interest list," Bigelow said. "I’ve had them in class and if I haven’t had them in class, I will have them in class at some point."

He shares teaching and coaching philosophies with former Millis coach Olivia Zitoli. They both believe in hard work, relentlessness and a civic responsibility to be good representatives and people in the classroom and community.

"I know all of these players as students," Bigelow said. "I’m looking forward to getting to know them in a completely different realm as athletes."

Punching up: Millis girls soccer shows it can hang with state's best in narrow loss to Hopkinton

Millis advanced to the Division 5 quarterfinals last fall and finished with an 8-11-2 record. The program has captured three state championships (2018, 2017, 2009 ).

"Millis athletics, for a town of its size,  has had tremendous success. It’s one of the smallest schools in the state, by far the smallest in the TVL,” Bigelow said. “To compete with the other schools in the TVL we need to be physically or fitness wise as good or better. We need to be as prepared or more prepared.”

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Millis boys soccer won't field varsity team, as new coaches take over it and girls team