High Honors: Martucci Has Excelled as a Player and a Coach at Winthrop High

Of all the facts about the extraordinary soccer career of Tracey Gigliello Martucci, one stands out: she was not the captain of her Winthrop High School girls soccer team.

“I wasn’t a captain of soccer, but I was a captain of basketball,” said Martucci. “Jessica Decost and Leslie Spinney were the soccer captains.

What’s interesting is that her father, Gerry Gigliello, was the head coach of the soccer team at that time. “He didn’t pull any strings for me,” said Tracey. “That’s how it was – if I didn’t get to be captain, I didn’t get it. He was as fair as they come.”

But her dad did help her become one of the greatest soccer players in school history. Martucci is an inductee in the Winthrop High School Hall of Fame.

Martucci was a three-time NEC soccer All-Star and set the all-time scoring record with 39 goals and 25 assists while playing for her father’s Winthrop High teams. Martucci’s scoring record has since been eclipsed by the great Julie Dowson and current senior superstar Maura Dorr.

Tracey Martucci was recently honored by the Winthrop School Committee for her 100^th victory as head coach of the WHS girls soccer team. Her husband, Butch Martucci, was recognized for his 150^th victory as the head coach of the girls hockey team at the same School Committee meeting.

Butch Martucci and Tracey Gigliello were high school sweethearts.

“We started going out when she was a sophomore and I was a junior,” recalled Butch. “I took her to every social and every prom they had. She was an excellent athlete in high school, always scoring goals. She was a much better athlete than I was. We were married in 2000 and we’ll be celebrating our 21^st wedding anniversary in September.”

Speaking about his wife’s coaching award, Butch said, “I’m extremely proud of her and what she’s done. She’s built a great program. It’s a very tough league to play in, but every year she puts out a great product and she’s a great coach.”

A College Star at Salem State

Martucci was a four-year starter for the Salem State women’s soccer team. She was the leading scorer in her junior season and named to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) All-Star Team.

She started coaching soccer in Winthrop as the head coach of the middle school team for two seasons. She was an assistant coach on Kevin Connolly’s staff for the Winthrop High team for two seasons before becoming the varsity head coach, a position she has held for 13 seasons.

 Interestingly, her father, Gerry, now serves as junior varsity coach. “It’s come full circle and now I’m teaching my daughters (Mia and Talia),” said Tracey.

Martucci just wrapped up a superb season in which the Vikings posted an 11-1-1 record.  Maura Dorr surpassed the 100-point milestone after scoring more than 1,000 points in her basketball career.

“Maura is one of my best players ever,” said Martucci. “She’s an all-around great kid. She’s a great person, athlete, student. She was a tremendous leader for us during the challenging times we had with this season (that was rescheduled to the spring because of COVID-19). Maura will definitely go down in our program’s history as one of the best I’ve ever coached. Her sister, Jenna, was also a great player. She’s equally as skilled as her sister. And we had two really good goalkeepers, Summer Talent and Miya Grein, who split the games and really stepped up for the team.”

Tracey’s daughter, Mia, was a striker for the varsity soccer team. She is a three-sport athlete (soccer, hockey, and lacrosse) and president of her class and the student council. “She loves everything about school,” said Tracey. Her younger daughter, Talia, is an eighth grader who plays varsity ice hockey and lacrosse. She will join the high school soccer program this fall.

Tracey Gigliello Martucci hopes that her exceptional athletic and coaching career can be an inspiration for students.

“I hope that I am a role model,” said Tracey. “I love everything about the town. Just playing sports here and giving back and being able to coach in Winthrop, even before I had kids in the program, so I did it for the love of sports and to elevate my players’ games. It really has been a great experience. It was such an honor to be recognized by the School Committee.”