Two New Britain High School coaches have been the recognized recently for their sporting accomplishments, Kurt Reis, New Britain High School Boys Basketball Coach, and Michelle Abraham, New Britain High School Girls’ Volleyball Coach.
Abraham has been named one of eight finalists for the National Coach of the Year Award from the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s (NHSCA).
Reis was selected to be an assistant coach of at the 41st McDonald’s All-American All-Star Game, where he will help lead the East Team.
Coach Abraham’s selection as a finalist for national honors comes after thirty years of successes. Teams she has led have been in the state tournament seventeen times and won league championships in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2005. Her team played in the 1998-1999 state championship game and returned to win the 1999-2000 the state championship.
With a coaching career record of 307 wins and 287 losses, Abraham recently won her 300th career victory.
“It has surely been a great honor to have been nominated by the Connecticut Coaches Association,” says Abraham. “I am beyond proud to be selected and to represent New Britain High School.”
Abraham was honored in 1997 by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association as Coach of the Year, and was inducted into the New Britain Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
New Britain school district’s Athletic Director, Len Corto said, “I believe I speak for all of New Britain High School when I say that we are very proud of Coach Abraham. She has been a dedicated member of our sports program for 30 years, so it’s fulfilling to see her get the recognition she deserves.”
Coach Reis will help lead a team in the McDonald’s All-American All-Star Game that will include three players who are ranked in the top five throughout the country, including ESPN’s number one ranked R.J. Barrett and number two ranked Zion Williamson. Both have committed to playing for Duke in the upcoming school year. The East Team will also feature Romeo Langford, who is ranked fifth in the country.
After being asked by John Mirabello of Northwest Catholic High School, who will be the head coach of the East Team, to serve as an assistant coach for the team, Reis said, “there was no hesitation. I told him to count me in.”
“It’s an honor to be a part of this event,” and, said Reis, “to coach 12 of the country’s best high school players will be an experience I will never forget.”
“We are pleased and honored that coach Reis has been selected to be an assistant coach in the McDonald’s All-American All-Star Game in Atlanta,” said New Britain High School Principal Joseph Pinchera. “This is an amazing opportunity for our coach to work with the nation’s best high school basketball players and to represent New Britain on a national stage.”
The All-American All-Star Game will be held on March 28, 2018 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta.
