By Ellys Sun 

SAN JOSE CALIF. — Beloved athletics director and role model, Trish Sunseri, retires this 2024 school year after 35 years of teaching. Today, we highlight her best moments. 

Trish Sunseri has been a teacher for 35 years and athletics director for 18 years. Through her time, she has coached 70 different teams and guided many students through her physical education classes. 

A question many may ask is “How can Mrs Sunseri be so dedicated to athletics?”. For that, we’d have to backtrack. 

Graduating from Lynbrook High School, Mrs Sunseri played multiple sports such as softball, soccer and her main sport being basketball. When asked more about her experiences during her time playing basketball, she said her one claim to fame was: “In my four years we never lost a league game, it was called the De Anza League…we were 50 and 0.” 

When it came to deciding what she wanted to do after college, Mrs. Sunseri did not waste time in figuring out where she needed to be. Immediately taking a position at Silver Creek High School, she quickly became the enthusiastic teacher we know today. She is also the second woman to be an athletics director since the school’s establishment. 

Asking why she wanted to be a physical education teacher, she simply said “I want to give back to the kids what I got out of sports, I really grew as a person because of sports and it provided me with many opportunities.” 

Beyond just teaching, Mrs Sunseri is also very passionate about coaching. She has coached multiple girls sports teams, this includes volleyball, basketball, waterpolo, softball and tennis. “I enjoy teaching, but I really love coaching. I think that’s me in a nutshell. I really love coaching and that’s why I came into this profession, the passion is definitely going into the coaching aspect.” she said. 

Athletes previously coached by Mrs Sunseri were asked how she has impacted them, Aneri Shah responded “She was one of the best coaches I ever had, she taught me the basics of water polo and has watched me grow since then.” Another student coached by Sunseri, Sonia Kumari said “She always reinforced a good team spirit and genuinely tried to improve everyone’s skills. I feel sad, Silver Creek is losing one of its best coaches.”

At the end of the day, she says her favorite part of working at Silver Creek High School was “The memories of relationships built with students, athletes, as well as the teachers and coaches that are around.”