At St. Francis, varsity athletics are an integral part of many students’ lives. With 65% of our students participating in field hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis, track and lacrosse, we emphasize skill-building and teamwork.
For an experienced and talented athlete, St. Francis offers the opportunity to experience varsity competition for four years and the chance to be a pivotal leader on a team. For a more novice athlete, we offer comprehensive instruction and the opportunity to be part of a team, which often is not possible in larger school settings. Our “no-cut” policy enables everyone who chooses the chance to participate meaningfully in our athletics programs.
Our coaches are former star college athletes and many of them also currently coach select teams in their sports. St. Francis High School athletes at all levels are given top-notch instruction and challenged to play to the very best of their ability.
Jason Bell Athletic Director Head Soccer Coach Assistant Track & Field Coach
Coach Bell was hired as the Athletic Director and Head Soccer Coach in 2006. The soccer team has shown vast improvement each season under the teachings of Coach Bell. Coach Bell elected to co-coach the track & field team with Coach Butler in 2008 helping athletes qualify for the state championship meet each of his two seasons. Coach Bell was a two-time All-State selection at Eastern High School and was recruited to the University of Kentucky following his senior season. He was a four year player at UK where he became 7th in goals scored in a season, 8th for most points in a season and tied for 1st for most assists in a game. Coach Bell was also named to the Mid-American Conference Tournament, All-Tournament Team in 1999.
Tony Butler Assistant Athletic Director Head Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Head Track & Field Coach
Coach Butler was originally hired in 2006 to coach the boys’ basketball team at St. Francis. Midway through his first season he was awarded the position of Assistant AD and began co-coaching boys and girls track & field with Coach Bell in the spring of 2008. The boys’ basketball team has grown under the guidance of Coach Butler winning more games with each season played. Coach Butler has helped the track & field team become a state competitor taking athletes to the state track & field meet in each of his 2 seasons. Coach Butler has been coaching various sports for 10 years. His previous experience includes 5 years at Louisville Collegiate School where he was Head Varsity Baseball Coach, Level I Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach and 5th/6th Grade Boys Basketball Head Coach. Coach Butler was a sophomore reserve on Male High School’s 1993 State Champion Football Team. Coach Butler is enrolled at the University of Louisville where he is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Sport Administration. Coach Butler played intramural basketball on a national level while an undergraduate student at the University of Louisville. His team won the 2002 NIRSA Midwest Regional Championship Tournament and Coach Butler was selected to the All-Tournament team. The following year the team competed in the NIRSA National Championship Tournament. The team lost in the final four, that year Coach Butler was a NIRSA All-American selection.
Stanley Phulpagar Head Field Hockey Coach
This year marks Coach Phulpagars’ seventh year as a coach/teacher here at St. Francis. Originally hired in 1997 as an assistant, then in 1999 he was awarded the head coaching position for field hockey, taught chemistry, algebra and coached the Science Olympiad team. During his first tenure he coach through 2002 before bigger opportunity pulled him away. In 2003 Coach Phulpagar went to volunteer for the University of Louisville field hockey team and was there until 2006. Then in 2008 Stanley made his return to the sidelines of St. Francis field hockey once again. Coach Phulpagar is originally from Bombay, India. He was captain of the Men’s Field Hockey Team at Bhavan’s College in Bombay. Coach Phulpagar also played some professional field hockey before coming to the US.
John Peabody Head Lacrosse Coach
Coach Peabody came to St. Francis to coach the Lacrosse team this past season. A lawyer by trade, Coach Peabody has coached lacrosse for a number of years most recently as an assistant at Eastern High School 2007-08. From 2003-06 he coached at Manual High School. Coach Peabody’s personal mission is to spread the sport of lacrosse to the downtown area. Lacrosse rules allow him to recruit players for the team and Coach Peabody has worked diligently to ensure our program continues. As a result we have given a number of students the opportunity to learn a new sport and play here at St. Francis.
Edwin DeJesus Assistant/JV Boys Basketball Coach
Coach DeJesus has coached basketball for more than 10 years. He has been a volunteer coach for many local organizations including the Cabbage Patch and the Presbyterian Community Center. Coach DeJesus coached for the AAU program, Higher Level Basketball. As a student at U of L he organized and coached both men’s and women’s’ intramural teams at the University of Louisville from 1998 to the present. He also organized trips for his teams to compete in extramural tournaments across the nation. Coach DeJesus has coached in 9 regional tournaments, winning 6 championships including one with Coach Butler. His teams qualified for national tournaments 5 times twice going to the finals. In 2001-02 Coach DeJesus was an assistant for the Spalding University women’s basketball program.
Alexandra Thurstone Assistant Field Hockey Coach
Alexandra Thurstone is a 1984 graduate of St. Francis High School. She played two varsity sports all four years at SFHS: field hockey and tennis. In field hockey, she started all four years, and in her senior year she was captain and leading scorer, scoring at least one goal in all regular season games. She was also a four year varsity tennis player, and was captain and both #1 Singles and Doubles her senior year. She also played on St. Francis’s only Girls’ Indoor Soccer Team, coached by Mr. Tom Miron, during the winter season in her final two years at St. Francis. Alexandra then went on to Harvard where she was on the crew and lacrosse teams for one year. After graduating from college, she returned to SFHS for the fall as the Assistant Coach of the SFHS field hockey team in 1988. She then went on to several other jobs and graduate school. When Alexandra returned home to Louisville in 1996, she restarted her field hockey career in the Seneca Park Women’s Field Hockey League, in which she has played ever since (over 10 years!). After coming to St. Francis in 2001, she was Assistant Coach of the field hockey team for two years until she became Head of School. Feeling the need to take a hiatus while she adjusted to the job of Head of School, Alexandra was thrilled to return to the field hockey team in 2007-08 as an Assistant Coach.
Ralph Marshall Assistant Boys Soccer Coach
Coach Marshall began his coaching career here at St. Francis in 2006 as assistant/goalie coach. Coach Marshall is also a professor in the History Department here at St. Francis. Coach Marshall was MVP in Annapolis Senior High School in Annapolis, MD. He was a four year varsity letterman at Dickinson College (86-89) and named MVP following his senior season and played on a traveling club team in Japan named Champon for 2 years. He also played on organized teams in Spain and Turkey. While in college, his team traveled to Australia and played Australian Universities and Fiji to play the Fijian under 19 national team.
Steven Boyd Head Tennis Coach (Boys & Girls)
Coach Boyd played tennis in college and also had a professional career for six-years. Coach Boyd played well enough professionally to break into the top 200 players at one time.
John Peabody
Edwin DeJesus
