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QUINCY ‒ The Woodward School for Girls has some pretty big shoes to fill, now that legendary athletic director Bob Giordano is hanging up his whistle and clipboard after 30 years.
Giordano, 74, of Quincy's Squantum neighborhood, turned a struggling athletics program into a league powerhouse, winning 18 championships as coach in three sports, including a combined nine undefeated seasons in softball, basketball and soccer from 1996 to 2026.
In a sit-down interview with The Patriot Ledger, Giordano brushed aside all the banners and accolades, reflecting on relationships and life lessons as the true highlights of his career.
"The kids remember the trail along the way, being together," Giordano said.
[IMG alt="Retiring Woodward School Athletic Director Bob Giordano has a long list of championships for the girls school, 30 years worth of banners
on Wednesday June 24, 2026"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/16c33304ca54535f39801c0ff429ba6d[/IMG]
More than conditioning and X's and O's, Coach G (as he's affectionately known to the Woodward community) identified time management, self-esteem and sportsmanship as the virtues that have carried his athletes to success beyond the playing field.
"They're not going to the pros," Giordano said. "It's their education that comes first."
Giordano joined Woodward in 1996 after coaching varsity softball at North Quincy High School. When he arrived, the school librarian doubled as athletic director and the basketball team, winless in consecutive seasons, had been put on probation for getting into an on-court fight with a rival team.
"I had a meeting with the kids," Giordano said. "I told them, this is the way it's going to be. A lot of the team didn't come back."
[IMG alt="Retiring Woodward School Athletic Director Bob Giordano has a long list of championships for the girls school, 30 years worth of banners
on Wednesday June 24, 2026"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/6ebd79c01646d98ccd564d0e10dba469[/IMG]
Those who did return got the message, Giordano said. The next year, the Woodward Wildcats went 8-6. The following year, they went to the league championship. After that, they won three consecutive titles and completed two undefeated seasons.
"I credit the kids," he said of the first team, the one on probation that went 8-6 and lost in the playoffs. "They bought into the program."
As examples of his focus on outside-the-lines success, Giordano shared reflections on two very different student athletes.
Grace O'Sullivan, from the Class of 2020, was more decorated as a student than as an athlete. Class valedictorian, class president and president of the Classics club, O'Sullivan graduated Harvard on a full academic scholarship.
"As a player, she was good, not great," Giordano said. "But she listened."
O'Sullivan's ability to listen and lead proved more valuable than pure athleticism, Giordano said, and he made her team captain.
"She was not going to take the crucial shot, but she was the best," Giordano said
[IMG alt="Retiring Woodward School Athletic Director Bob Giordano has a long list of championships for the girls school, 30 years worth of banners
on Wednesday June 24, 2026"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/6dfed7fd6e017125e0fd24d8c1b21709[/IMG]
Giordano recalled how O'Sullivan called him to tell him she was thinking of trying out for Harvard's rugby team.
"Just the fact you have the guts to try out for the team, you've already won," Giordano recalled saying. They talked on the phone about volunteering at practice, observing the game from the bench and constantly working to improve.
"The kid made the team because the coach liked her work ethic," Giordano said. "They went on to win the (Ivy League) championship."
According to O'Sullivan's player profile, the team advanced to the national semifinals in 2022. She now works as Sen. Ed Markey's regional field director.
Unlike O'Sullivan, Nicole Leung had jaw-dropping skill on the basketball court, slicing through double teams and swishing three-pointers with unlimited range. In 2024, when the Wildcats beat Penguin Prep 46-44, Leung scored 44 points including the game-winning shot.
Leung came to Woodward from Hong Kong through the nonprofit organization Strive Fitness, which provides girls with limited resources opportunities to better their lives through basketball.
"She could've scored a hell of a lot more than she did," Giordano said.
He recalled the 2024 semifinal game when Leung demonstrated her team-first mentality. In the second-to-last play of the game, Leung came off a double pick and drilled a three-pointer.
The Wildcats still needed another basket. On the next possession, Leung again came off a double screen. But this time, as Giordano anticipated, the opposing team threw more defenders at her, leaving a teammate open under the rim.
Leung zipped the pass, and her teammate made the winning lay-up that sent the Wildcats to the Girls Independent League championship, which they ultimately lost to Boston Academy High School.
"I'd love to say I taught you, but I didn't," Giordano remembered telling Leung.
"You taught me to be a good teammate," Leung replied.
Though Leung was the best all-around basketball player Giordano coached in his 30-year career, he advised her not to return after her one season at Woodward.
"This school isn't for you," Giordano said he told her. "You can only go so high here."
Leung went on to play at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, where she was named First Team All-Mid-Atlantic Prep for the 2025-26 season as a senior. She has committed to play Div. II college ball at Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Though Giordano is stepping down from his position at Woodward, he said he plans to continue to offer mentoring through youth sports in Quincy.
"I'm moving onto another passion of mine," Giordano said. He'll transition to part-time work at the Quincy YMCA, where he'll run a basketball program for younger kids and youth athletes with special needs, he said.
As for Woodward, they have some big shoes to fill. Headmaster Alex Magay told The Patriot Ledger that a search for the new athletic director is underway.
Raise petition had enough signatures: Clerk says Quincy petition against mayor's raise may be on the ballot
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Thanks to our subscribers, who make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer.
Peter Blandino covers government, politics and the courts. Based in Quincy, he has written on social issues, public finance, development and more since joining The Patriot Ledger in 2022.Reach Peter Blandino at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy school's athletics chief passes torch, praise after 30 years
Continue reading...
Giordano, 74, of Quincy's Squantum neighborhood, turned a struggling athletics program into a league powerhouse, winning 18 championships as coach in three sports, including a combined nine undefeated seasons in softball, basketball and soccer from 1996 to 2026.
In a sit-down interview with The Patriot Ledger, Giordano brushed aside all the banners and accolades, reflecting on relationships and life lessons as the true highlights of his career.
"The kids remember the trail along the way, being together," Giordano said.
[IMG alt="Retiring Woodward School Athletic Director Bob Giordano has a long list of championships for the girls school, 30 years worth of banners
on Wednesday June 24, 2026"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/16c33304ca54535f39801c0ff429ba6d[/IMG]
More than conditioning and X's and O's, Coach G (as he's affectionately known to the Woodward community) identified time management, self-esteem and sportsmanship as the virtues that have carried his athletes to success beyond the playing field.
"They're not going to the pros," Giordano said. "It's their education that comes first."
The early years: How Giordano transformed Woodward sports
Giordano joined Woodward in 1996 after coaching varsity softball at North Quincy High School. When he arrived, the school librarian doubled as athletic director and the basketball team, winless in consecutive seasons, had been put on probation for getting into an on-court fight with a rival team.
"I had a meeting with the kids," Giordano said. "I told them, this is the way it's going to be. A lot of the team didn't come back."
[IMG alt="Retiring Woodward School Athletic Director Bob Giordano has a long list of championships for the girls school, 30 years worth of banners
on Wednesday June 24, 2026"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/6ebd79c01646d98ccd564d0e10dba469[/IMG]
Those who did return got the message, Giordano said. The next year, the Woodward Wildcats went 8-6. The following year, they went to the league championship. After that, they won three consecutive titles and completed two undefeated seasons.
"I credit the kids," he said of the first team, the one on probation that went 8-6 and lost in the playoffs. "They bought into the program."
Giordano reflects on two special student athletes
As examples of his focus on outside-the-lines success, Giordano shared reflections on two very different student athletes.
Grace O'Sullivan, from the Class of 2020, was more decorated as a student than as an athlete. Class valedictorian, class president and president of the Classics club, O'Sullivan graduated Harvard on a full academic scholarship.
"As a player, she was good, not great," Giordano said. "But she listened."
O'Sullivan's ability to listen and lead proved more valuable than pure athleticism, Giordano said, and he made her team captain.
"She was not going to take the crucial shot, but she was the best," Giordano said
[IMG alt="Retiring Woodward School Athletic Director Bob Giordano has a long list of championships for the girls school, 30 years worth of banners
on Wednesday June 24, 2026"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/6dfed7fd6e017125e0fd24d8c1b21709[/IMG]
Giordano recalled how O'Sullivan called him to tell him she was thinking of trying out for Harvard's rugby team.
"Just the fact you have the guts to try out for the team, you've already won," Giordano recalled saying. They talked on the phone about volunteering at practice, observing the game from the bench and constantly working to improve.
"The kid made the team because the coach liked her work ethic," Giordano said. "They went on to win the (Ivy League) championship."
According to O'Sullivan's player profile, the team advanced to the national semifinals in 2022. She now works as Sen. Ed Markey's regional field director.
Unlike O'Sullivan, Nicole Leung had jaw-dropping skill on the basketball court, slicing through double teams and swishing three-pointers with unlimited range. In 2024, when the Wildcats beat Penguin Prep 46-44, Leung scored 44 points including the game-winning shot.
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Leung came to Woodward from Hong Kong through the nonprofit organization Strive Fitness, which provides girls with limited resources opportunities to better their lives through basketball.
"She could've scored a hell of a lot more than she did," Giordano said.
He recalled the 2024 semifinal game when Leung demonstrated her team-first mentality. In the second-to-last play of the game, Leung came off a double pick and drilled a three-pointer.
The Wildcats still needed another basket. On the next possession, Leung again came off a double screen. But this time, as Giordano anticipated, the opposing team threw more defenders at her, leaving a teammate open under the rim.
Leung zipped the pass, and her teammate made the winning lay-up that sent the Wildcats to the Girls Independent League championship, which they ultimately lost to Boston Academy High School.
"I'd love to say I taught you, but I didn't," Giordano remembered telling Leung.
"You taught me to be a good teammate," Leung replied.
Though Leung was the best all-around basketball player Giordano coached in his 30-year career, he advised her not to return after her one season at Woodward.
"This school isn't for you," Giordano said he told her. "You can only go so high here."
Leung went on to play at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, where she was named First Team All-Mid-Atlantic Prep for the 2025-26 season as a senior. She has committed to play Div. II college ball at Arkansas-Fort Smith.
The future for Giordano and Woodward athletics
Though Giordano is stepping down from his position at Woodward, he said he plans to continue to offer mentoring through youth sports in Quincy.
"I'm moving onto another passion of mine," Giordano said. He'll transition to part-time work at the Quincy YMCA, where he'll run a basketball program for younger kids and youth athletes with special needs, he said.
As for Woodward, they have some big shoes to fill. Headmaster Alex Magay told The Patriot Ledger that a search for the new athletic director is underway.
Raise petition had enough signatures: Clerk says Quincy petition against mayor's raise may be on the ballot
More Quincy politics: Sparks fly at council meeting about Clasby fraud case. What we know
Thanks to our subscribers, who make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer.
Peter Blandino covers government, politics and the courts. Based in Quincy, he has written on social issues, public finance, development and more since joining The Patriot Ledger in 2022.Reach Peter Blandino at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy school's athletics chief passes torch, praise after 30 years
Continue reading...
