“I’m very lucky,” reflects Roy Wentworth ’83, smiling, his eyes bright.

Named Norwich Free Academy’s Athletic Director in April 2019, Wentworth credits the support of his family, the guidance of his mentor, and his unique perspective as contributing to his successful career as a student, coach, teacher, and administrator at NFA.

A Norwich Connecticut resident, Wentworth, a certified science teacher, has also served as NFA’s Director of Night School, Alternative Pathway to Success (APS), and Summer Credit Programs..

It was like a “lengthy job interview,” describes Wentworth, “but the education I received in the process cannot be found in any textbook. The entire NFA community, the Eastern Connecticut Conference, and the Norwich community at large have been very supportive.”

“Roy has done an outstanding job of leading the NFA Athletic Department this year,” says Head of School David Klein, “and I am confident that he will continue to serve the institution with honor and professionalism in this position. Mr. Wentworth has the skill and passion, and the integrity and character to lead NFA athletics forward.”

Highly respected throughout the state, Wentworth has an extensive background in leadership, coaching, experience in business and interscholastic athletics. In addition to teaching Biology and Anatomy & Physiology, he has served as a coach for 44 seasons. He retired from coaching in 2012 after coaching NFA’s wrestling program for twenty nine years, thirteen of those years as the Head . Roy has also coached football and girls golf for the Academy. Currently, he is a member of the CAS-CIAC Wrestling Committee.

Upon graduation from NFA, Wentworth attended Eastern Connecticut State University. During his freshman year, he stopped by NFA to visit Snitkin, who mentioned he was looking for an assistant coach. “I was lucky. I happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Wentworth recalls. That conversation began a coaching career and matured a friendship. After college and for eighteen years, Wentworth owned and operated a landscape construction company. Through this experience, he cultivated business acumen, management skills, and leadership abilities during long hours of hard work, and as a business owner, he focused upon detail and organization.

Wentworth’s vision as an Athletic Director is to improve the quality of the overall experience of NFA’s student-athletes. He believes that success for the department includes coaches who are “role models and mentors providing student-athletes with the ability to set and achieve their goals.”

Mentorship is essential to Wentworth, who says, from mentors, “you take in what they offer and use that to create your own standards and principles.” He believes his experiences – personal, family, and professional – shaped his unique perspective and he intends to translate that into successfully leading the department with “a commitment to communicating the sense of purpose that creates good citizens.”

Wentworth lights up when he talks about the future of the department, but even more so when he discusses his family. “My family comes first,” he emphasizes. “But the Norwich Free Academy is a very close second,” he adds, smiling widely.