From rebuilding to championships: Riverhead athletics director Brian Sacks reflects on nearly a decade of leadership

Brian Sacks, the Riverhead Central School District’s director of physical education, health and athletics, is leaving Riverhead after nine years leading Blue Waves’ sports programs.

Sacks, 47, has resigned to take the same position in the Plainedge Union Free School District. The move brings him much closer to his home in Plainview — roughly a 10-minute commute, compared to his current 50-minute drive.

In an interview this week, Sacks said his proudest accomplishment in Riverhead was fostering “the pride and the love from the players for the school and for the athletic community.”

“Just building not only more competitiveness, but really just more players competing in sports and having more interest was kind of my whole purpose,” Sacks said. “Winning is great, but being part of the teams and being part of that community is the better part for kids.”

Sacks became director in July 2016 and has steered the athletics department through significant challenges. The coronavirus pandemic struck in early 2020, resulting in lockdowns and the cancellation of all the school sports. That spring, the school district’s proposed budget was rejected by voters, forcing an austerity budget that cut athletics and other extracurricular programs.

“It was a hard time being a director, but it was even a harder time being a student-athlete,” said Sacks, who stayed on as an assistant principal amidst the cuts. “There were no opportunities.”

An influx of state funding in spring 2021 allowed the district to restore its sports programs. But by then the high school had lost roughly 40-50 varsity athletes due to families moving out of the district — some to seek sports opportunities at other schools, Sacks said.

“After austerity, it was for us to really rebuild — numbers wise — most of our programs,” Sacks said. There weren’t enough students to fill high school junior varsity rosters, he noted, and his focus became regaining “the confidence and interest of the students.”

Sacks worked to upgrade equipment and uniforms to make Riverhead’s athletic programs more attractive. 

“My biggest thing was, I never really wanted players to come back and say, ‘Oh my god, we went to whatever school and they had this,’” Sacks said. “I wanted to be the school that people said that about.”

His efforts also extended to rebuilding the coaching staff to better support student-athletes in the competitive Long Island high school sports landscape.

“I got to over the last almost 10 years, rebuild almost all of our coaching staff — just to get new names, new faces in and help them coach and help them get organized and kind of inspire them,” Sacks said. “Someone’s compliment to me was: ‘All of our coaches are very similar, and kind of very similar to you.’ And that’s just a testament of the type of person that I want around students.”

During his tenure, the district added several new teams, including girls wrestling; junior varsity girls golf; and junior varsity and middle school boys tennis. Sacks also helped establish Riverhead Unified Sports, a Special Olympics program where individuals with and without intellectual disabilities compete together.

According to Sacks, participation is now at a high. Nearly all of the district’s varsity and junior varsity teams are full — some with multiple JV and middle school teams added in recent years. A few teams have even had to turn away players due to growing competitiveness.

“There’s just more and more interest out there,” Sacks said.

The Blue Waves have seen that enthusiasm translate into results. The last school year alone has been momentous: the basketball and baseball teams made the playoffs; the softball team won the Suffolk County championship; track and field athletes broke school records and medaled in county events. For the first time since the program began in 2010, the high school girls golf team sent two competitors to the state tournament. 

For an administrator like Sacks, watching Riverhead students thrive in the athletics program makes him feel recognized and appreciated. 

“Just to see them wearing our jerseys or our shirts with our logo on it — that’s kind of the big thing in my mind,” he said.

Sacks’ last day in Riverhead is July 15. The Riverhead Central School District is currently advertising to fill his position.

“I loved my time here. I love the community. I love the students. I think this is an amazing place,” Sacks said. “I’m very sad to leave, and it was a very hard decision for me.”