“Lean on those around you and make good connections with people here because it will go by fast and don’t take anything too serious,” says Mr. Brett Sanderlin, one of the wrestling coaches and site assigned substitute here at Landstown.
Coach Sanderlin was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, but eventually moved to Virginia Beach, where he grew up.
He previously attended Greenbrier Middle School in Chesapeake, where he wrestled until he began attending Landstown High School (LHS) where he continued his wrestling career.
While attending LHS, he met a familiar face we should all know, Mr. Joseph Sendzik.
The two met through Coach Sanderlin’s brother and a shared interest in wrestling. Mr. Sendzik provided information that the two “have always been friends, but they became close friends later in life.”
He says Coach Sanderlin makes a difference at LHS by, “going out of his way to make kids feel noticed and appreciated.”
Coach Sanderlin actually expressed that his favorite childhood memory was going to Disney with his family every summer.
Mr. Sendzik, when asked about his favorite memory with Coach Sanderlin, broke out into a fit of laughter.
He explained, “How weak we were when we drove to Charlotte to watch the Bills vs the Panthers game and the time I saw his Disney picture at his house.”
Coach Sanderlin started his wrestling career at only five years old and finished his career at 21 at Davidson College where he was a starting/division one wrestler, he ended up wrestling for a total of 16 years.
After graduating from Davidson College, Coach Sanderlin came back to Landstown last in May.
He started working here as a sub to work in education and is now taking classes at Liberty university for his masters, as he intends to become a school counselor.
He stated, “Growing up I wanted to do something in education because of my mom.”
When he started working here last year, he was able to work as a wrestling coach with his father.
Coach Sanderlin stated, “It’s fun and now I get to help others do what I’ve done my whole life and it’s nice having my dad because we’re almost always on the same page. I want to be what my dad is for other kids.”
Julian Rodriguez, a wrestler at LHS, describes Coach Sanderlin as “nice, caring, fun, energetic, intelligent, and he’s just the goat because he has a great personality.”
He explains that Coach Sanderlin has “very encouraging words and he’s very patient and he takes time to help you step by step on what to do.”
Coach Sanderlin believes he has connected with students at LHS by “understanding what they’re going through considering I was going through the same things as them not too long ago and treating them at the same level as me and talking to them casually.”
He explained he would like to make a difference here by “continuing to connect with kids, being someone they can look forward to speaking to, seeing throughout the day, and being someone they can come to.”
