Coach’s Corner: Meet Retiring Coach Eric Wisotsky

Eric Wisotsky has been a teacher at Stuyvesant since 2001 and is perhaps best known for teaching United States History, Economics, and Government, and being one of the coordinators of the annual National History Day competition. What one may not know, however, is that Wisotsky has also been a dedicated coach of the girls’ varsity handball team since 2010 and the girls’ table tennis team since 2015. He was also the coach of the girls’ bowling team from 2014 through 2016. Unfortunately for the Stuyvesant community, this is Wisotsky’s last year coaching at Stuyvesant. While he is sad to be moving on, Wisotsky has decided to retire from coaching so that he can spend more time with his wife and two-year-old daughter.

Wisotsky grew up in Chappaqua, NY and has received degrees in a multitude of subjects. He graduated from SUNY Oneonta with a bachelor’s degree in History and then attended the New York Institute of Technology where he received a Masters in Instructional Technology, and College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, where he received a Certificate in School Building and District Leadership. Now, Wisotsky lives with his family in Putnam Valley, New York—a whole 50 miles north of Stuyvesant. Putnam Valley holds a special place for Wisotsky because he lives in a community where his father spent his summers, as did Wisotsky when he visited his grandparents as a kid. He also loves animals and has enough space to have two cats and a dog, and raise chickens for their eggs.

As Wisotsky recalls, he wanted to become a teacher at Stuyvesant ever since he graduated college. This is no surprise considering the fact that Wisotsky comes from a family of teachers. In fact, both of his parents were New York City teachers, his sister is a teacher, his aunt is a teacher, his uncle and cousin both work in education, and even his wife teaches kindergarten in their local school district.

Though Wisotsky has a long commute, he is happy to make the daily trip to Stuyvesant and be around motivated students who care about academics. Prior to teaching at Stuyvesant, Wisotsky taught at a school in which the students were not very motivated, and it was not the environment in which he wanted to teach. Instead, he was able to attain his dream job as a Stuyvesant teacher and has not regretted his decision. “The academic culture and the motivation of the students continue to make it a joy to teach here,” Wisotsky said. Indeed, Wisotsky can readily relate to Stuyvesant’s intensely competitive environment since his high school was very competitive as well, and he has taken the lessons he learned from his high school experience and applied them to his teaching.

As Wisotsky aptly said, “I feel I can best help students in a place like Stuy, especially the ones who tend to slip through the cracks. I didn’t always fit the mold in high school, so I really try to reach out to kids who might struggle in similar ways here.”

Wisotsky said he “love[s]” Stuyvesant, further remarking, “The students continue to inspire me, and I continue to make new connections.”

In reflecting on his nearly two decades at Stuyvesant, Wisotsky said, “Other than various policy changes over the years, I’m not sure how much has changed [at Stuyvesant] because my perspective has changed as well.”

Wisotsky’s zeal for teaching is also mirrored in his passion for coaching. Though he was never a part of the handball or table tennis teams in high school or college, Wisotsky was on his high school’s baseball team and has always remained involved in athletics. While he could have joined his college’s baseball team, the thought of waking up for 6 a.m. morning practices in college did not appeal to him, so instead, he opted to be on his college’s varsity ski team for three years. After college, he played softball for a number of years, and then in 2012, he switched back to playing baseball. Currently, Wisotsky both manages and plays in the Hudson Valley Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL) for adults 35 years of age and older. Yet, this did not stop Wisotsky from devoting a significant amount of time to the Stuyvesant handball and table tennis teams over the last several years.

As the head coach for the girls’ varsity table tennis and handball teams, Wisotsky has always emphasized teamwork both on and off the courts (for handball) or the tables (for table tennis). In fact, on the handball team, “We have always referred to our team as a family. Everybody contributes and supports each other in different ways,” Wisotsky said. Wisotsky has also emphasized to his players that “raw skill” can only take a player so far and that “temperament is as important in winning as skill,” he said.

Indeed, one motto for Wisotsky’s teams is that “the difference between a good player and a great player is up here, while pointing to our heads,” he said. More specifically, Wisotsky has always reiterated to his players that “keeping a cool head, staying confident, and not getting rattled by spectators, the other players, or the score is key,” he said. “I remind them to stay cool, calm, and collected, and take one ball at a time.”

Another critical aspect of Wisotsky’s coaching philosophy is demonstrated by yet another one of his teams’ mottos: “Don’t keep score, just keep scoring.” As Wisotsky said, “the idea is not to lose confidence if you are behind by a lot, not to be overconfident if you are ahead by a lot, and not to get nervous if it’s a close game. I emphasize keeping emotions in check and staying confident in one’s ability; then you can get emotional and celebrate after the game.” In addition, Wisotsky has helped the team improve by encouraging the players to reflect on how they can improve for the next game. “Every game is a practice to get better for the next game,” he said.

Indeed, Wisotsky’s coaching philosophy is echoed by Shirley Liu, a senior on the girls’ handball team. “Mr. Wisotsky is always enthusiastic, supportive, and encouraging. He recognizes our commitment and effort and always reminds us to not keep score and just keep scoring,” Liu said.

Even though Wisotsky has decided to retire from coaching the Stuyvesant teams, he continues to keep very busy with his other passions, including his love of music. He likes going to concerts and plays guitar, a little piano, and blues harmonica. He manages to find time to build guitars as a hobby and is currently working on a “cigar box guitar. These go back to the mid 1800s and were especially popular again during the Great Depression amongst musicians who couldn’t afford to buy instruments,” Wisotsky said.

It is clear that Wisotsky is multi-faceted and a role model for the students of Stuyvesant High School. He will be very missed next year as the coach of the table tennis and handball teams, but lucky for Stuyvesant, he has no plans to stop teaching and helping his students continue to achieve their goals.