Frank Steffanides: Head Coach (Third Season; 17-48)
Steffanides is in his third season as the head coach of the Fitchburg State softball team.
Throughout his two-year tenure, Steffanides has led the Falcons to a 17-48 record, including a 9-17 mark in the highly competitive MASCAC Conference. He has named five athletes to the MASCAC All-Conference team, including a pair of All-Conference second team nominations during the 2009 season.
Steffanides, a Leominster, Mass. native, was the head coach at Franklin Pierce College from 1999 to 2001. Prior to coaching the Ravens, Steffanides was the head coach at Leominster High School from 1986 to 1996 where he won two Division I state titles and seven league championships. For his efforts, Steffanides was inducted into the Massachusetts State Coaches Hall of Fame in 1997.
In addition to his coaching duties at the collegiate and high school levels, Steffanides also coached the Central Mass Thunder (18u team) from 1997-1999 and the Polar Crush (18u team) from 1993-1994.
A graduate of
Fitchburg State College (’70), Steffanides currently resides
in Fitchburg, Mass. with his wife and four children.
Bruce Walberg is in his third season as the assistant coach of the Fitchburg State softball team.
Walberg, head coach of the women's soccer team, has led the Falcons to an overall record of 48-45-5 throughout his five-years at the helm, and is currently only three wins shy of becoming the all-time winningiest coach in program history.
Walberg has made an immediate impact within his first four seasons at the helm of the Falcons, advancing to the MASCAC Tournament in each of his first four seasons. During the 2008 season, Walberg led the Falcons to a program best 13 victories and a covenant ECAC Tournament berth. The Falcons named seven players to the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) All-Conference team, including the 2008 Women's Soccer Rookie of the Year.
Walberg came to Fitchburg State after a four-year stint as head women's soccer coach at Blackstone Valley Regional Technical High School. He helped lead the Beavers to consecutive berths in the Central Massachusetts district tournament and Voc Tech state tournament. For his efforts, Walberg was named Colonial Athletic League Coach of the Year in 2004. Walberg also coached the varsity at Blackstone-Millville Regional from 1996 to 2001 and helped the Central Region earn a bronze medal the past two years at the Bay State Games.
Walberg, a former member of the Marine Corps who served in
Vietnam, recently retired after a 36-year career as Postmaster of
Millbury. Bruce and his wife Joanne, reside in Blackstone with
their two children. David (23) played college soccer at
Eastern Connecticut State and is currently the Sports Information
Director at Albright College while Brett (17) is a freshman at
Westfield State this fall where he will play soccer.
