HUNTINGTOWN, Md. — For three-sport coach, middle school math teacher, and recently named Metro Independent School Athletics League (MISAL) Coach of the Year Joshua Mooney, coaching is a dream come true.
On Oct. 27, Mooney and the Calverton School boys varsity soccer team secured the MISAL title over Riverdale Baptist in a 2-0 win. Mooney was also named Coach of the Year following the team’s victory.
Mooney first knew he wanted to be a coach in third grade when he questioned his basketball coach’s methods; from then on, all of his energies went into coaching, or learning how to be a coach, or planning how to be a coach and have a job at the same time. He grew up playing multiple sports and said he couldn’t imagine a different life. He also understood early on the pivotal role coaches play in kids’ lives and takes his role as a mentor seriously.
Mooney is a 2020 graduate of the Calverton School, which makes his work there even more impactful. He went away to college at Randolph-Macon College to play lacrosse, and returned to Calverton in 2024 as a coach before he even considered being a teacher.
Mooney said teaching was the last thing on his mind, but coaching helped guide him — he worked as a substitute, then a full-time substitute, and just started his role as a middle school math teacher this school year.
“I just loved working with the kids so much and I knew I wanted to keep doing it,” Mooney told The BayNet. “I couldn’t imagine having any other job.”
Coaching and teaching at his alma mater was a dream come true for Mooney, who said that he always imagined coming back to his old school to work and coach.
“It’s really cool to be able to make an impact in the same community that impacted me. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the Calverton School. So being able to come back and make a fraction of the impact that was made on me — it’s really exciting. I really feel like I’m making a difference,” Mooney said.
That difference is not just in Mooney’s own success as a young coach, but in the way he is changing the way players think of the game and of themselves — and he knows the gravity of the role a coach can play in a young person’s life. When asked about influential people in their lives, most of his friends will name a coach they had. Mooney himself says his college lacrosse coach guided him through everything from navigating an injury his senior season to advising him on buying a home this year. He describes his style as “player-led.”
“I really take comments and criticism from my players just as much as they take from me. We’ve all gotta be one team. It’s not my way or the highway, it’s our way, because we’re all going the same way at the end of the day. We’re all going the same direction so we all have to be successful to get there.”
Mooney is currently gearing up for his winter sport, middle school basketball. He loves all three of the sports he coaches, and says basketball is especially fun because he has a lot of kids on his team that he sees in class. Coming off his Coach of the Year win, he’s ready to keep up the momentum.
The MISAL Coach of the Year vote took place before the championship game, which made it even more meaningful. The acknowledgment wasn’t strictly about wins or on-the-field success, but about impact. Mooney’s dedication as a coach was visible to other coaches in the league. It was meaningful not because he wants accolades, but because it shows he’s doing his job well, and he knows it means that he should keep doing what he’s doing: showing up for the kids.
“The award is just as much for my team as for me because they were the ones who really had to buy into the things I said. This year with the seniors and captains we had, they led the team so well. It was just as much for them as it was for me.”
“I don’t expect to win a championship every season, but I hope the community continues to see the hard work and the impact good coaching has on kids,” he continued. “It’s something I truly want to do from the bottom of my heart. Coaches have such an important role in young people’s lives and I’m so grateful to be that mentor.”
Mooney is busy prepping his middle school basketball roster and will coach varsity lacrosse in the fall. One day, he supposes, he might have to choose between the three sports he loves. But thankfully, that day is not today, and he can run right into the next season — optimistic, dedicated and ready to make a difference through sports for as many kids as possible at the school he loves.
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Where’s the coverage of Calvert High Varsity Football team going 8-1 and winning SMAC??