Eastport-South Manor alum named district athletic director

Patrick Hayes has joined the Eastport-South Manor Central School District as director of health, physical education and athletics.

Hayes comes from South Country School District in Bellport, where he held a similar position for the past two years.

It’s a homecoming for Hayes, who graduated from Eastport-South Manor Junior-Senior High School in 2007 and began his teaching career there as a leave replacement physical education teacher, according to a press release from the district announcing his appointment.

Hayes, in his time at South Country, presided over a successful athletics program at Bellport High School, whose football team won its second consecutive county championship in 2022 and whose 2023-2024 girls basketball team made it to the county championship game for the first time in school history.

Bellport head varsity football coach Jamie Fabian said Hayes was supportive of the football program and the two worked well together.

When he was a teacher at Longwood High School, Hayes coached a number of sports, including the boys varsity basketball team. He coached the team to two league championships and was twice named League I coach of the year, the district’s press release said.

Hayes was a familiar presence at games for Bellport teams, Bellport boys varsity basketball assistant coach Rich Brown said.

“He’s a young guy with lots of energy and passionate about sports and he really embraced Bellport,” said Brown, who said the two often talked about basketball coaching strategy.

Hayes holds a bachelor’s degree in K-12 physical education from SUNY Cortland and a Master of Science degree in liberal studies and certification in coaching from State University at Stony Brook. He also holds a certificate in coaching and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership from Stony Brook.

South Country named Martino Sottile as Hayes’s replacement.

Sottile comes from the Brentwood School District, where he was a physical education teacher and head coach of the girls soccer team at Brentwood High School and assistant varsity wrestling coach.