Nantucket Athletic Department Announces Two Coaching Hires

As the island shifts gears and begins focusing on the spring sports season, the Nantucket High School Athletic Department announced two coaching hires Friday afternoon. Kelly Mayette has been hired as the new varsity softball head coach while Kelly Brown will take over as the new varsity girls lacrosse head coach this spring.

Mayette is a police officer on the island and served as an assistant coach for the program under Grace-Anne Tornovish last spring. Mayette had an excellent softball career as a player - competing as a pitcher and first baseman at both the Division I and Division II levels for Stonehill College. She finished her career with over 100 career strikeouts, was a two-year captain, earned Academic All-District honors in the NCAA Northeast Conference, and was twice named an All-American Scholar-Athlete by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Brown will take over the girls lacrosse program after former head coach Jami Lower, who has played an instrumental role in the growth of women's lacrosse on island, retired from the role in June. Brown, like Mayette, had an excellent playing career and is a former Division I lacrosse athlete.

"Brown brings high-level playing experience and a deep commitment to mentorship," athletic director Travis Lombardi said in a press release. "She graduated in 2024 from UMass Amherst with a B.S. in Public Health. She began her collegiate career at UMBC, where she also mentored elementary and middle school students through Harlem Lacrosse Baltimore, an academic-athletic enrichment program. For her remaining two years, she transferred to UMass Amherst’s nationally ranked program, competing as a defender and contributing to a top-25 team culture built on discipline and accountability."

Brown has five years of experience coaching with Ultimate Lacrosse, a competitive club program in the greater Philadelphia area. Most recently, Brown served as the assistant varsity coach at West Chester Rustin High School in West Chester, Pennsylvania.