New Faces in Athletics this Fall

Bobbie Crump-Burbank P’11, who recently retired as the director of athletics after 38 years at Brooks, passed the baton to 25-year softball coach and former Associate Head for Student Affairs Andrea Heinze P’19 this summer.

“I’m incredibly excited and so honored to be moving into this position,” said Heinze, a longtime mathematics teacher. “We have had some amazing people work and serve the Brooks community in this role, and I hope to make sure every single student at the school has a positive, transformative experience in our after-school programming."

On July 1, Heinze began serving as Brooks’ new director of athletics — and promptly oversaw the hiring of two new members of the athletics department team: Assistant Athletic Director John Cunningham and Assistant Athletic Trainer Megan Murray.

Cunningham is a graduate of Connecticut College and will be an associate head coach for boys 1st lacrosse, as well as teach Self in Community classes. He served as the sports information director at The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut for six years before arriving at Brooks in August.

Murray moved into the athletic training role after Lindsey McDowell was elevated to head athletic trainer near the end of the academic year. A former athletic trainer and athletic coordinator at Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts, the University of Georgia alumna will be working as a full-time athletic trainer under McDowell on campus.

A new head coach of girls 1st field hockey fills out the ranks of fresh faces out on the fields this fall: Laura Reid joined Brooks after several years of volunteering with nearby Andover High School's field hockey squad and helping multiple teams win Division 1 state titles, most recently in 2021 and 2022.

As a native of Andover, Massachusetts, Reid played field hockey for Andover High School, where she was captain of the school's first state championship field hockey team. She then went on to play at Northeastern University. Upon graduating, with a degree in communications studies and a minor in business administration, Reid spent the early years of her professional career working for TJX Companies in merchandise planning. In 2023, she completed her Master's of Education in school counseling at Merrimack College and joined Central Catholic High School as a school and college counselor.

“I’m confident that the addition of these newcomers — along with the steady presence of familiar faces Assistant Athletic Director - Strength and Conditioning Jason Price and Assistant Athletics Director for Operations Todd Wheelden,” said Heinze, “will help bring this department and our entire afternoon program to new heights.”