Rainville Named Athletic Director
St. Johnsbury Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Rainville as Athletic Director, effective July 1, 2025. Patrick will succeed Troy Engle, who has served in the position since 2023, leading all SJA interscholastic athletics. Patrick currently serves as the school’s Associate Athletic Director and the head coach of the Boys’ Varsity Basketball team.
Patrick graduated from Danville High School, where he played on the Varsity Basketball and Soccer teams and received several honors, including Vermont State Athletic Director’s Association Scholar Athlete, Vermont Principals’ Association Scholar Athlete, and MaxPrep National Male Citizen Athlete of the Year.
He went on to play collegiate basketball for Michael Osborne at Johnson State College. During his time in the program, he earned all-academic honors, was named Mr. JSC, and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. He also ran one year of cross country.
After his playing days concluded, Patrick turned to coaching. He coached at Danville and Lyndon Institute as an assistant before an opportunity was presented at the highest level.
In 2017-2018, Patrick was a coaching staff intern with the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA. His duties there included assisting in drills, rebounding, helping players with pregame routines, ensuring equipment was accessible and readily available, editing and adding to opponent and personnel scouting reports, diagramming plays with fastdraw for the team playbook, compiling post-game statistics and reports for the coaching and analytical staff, upload film to players Ipads, set up locker room video of upcoming opponents, and update league leaderboards daily.
“The opportunity with Charlotte was an invaluable experience that not only included working with incredible players and coaching minds but also provided insights into the organization of the franchise and how, from the front office to sports medicine to basketball operations, everyone worked together as a team toward the same purpose. Coach Steve Clifford afforded me the opportunity to witness and understand the level of organization required for high performance and really made it known that everything needed to value the time of the players. That is what I have strived to do as a coach since, be purposeful and create opportunities for players where they can excel.”
In April 2018, Patrick returned to the NEK as the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Lyndon Institute. He would lead the program for four seasons and coach multiple capital league and VBCA award recipients.
In 2022, Patrick was hired by SJA as the school’s Assistant Athletic Director, serving under Interim Athletic Director Alan Ruggles and as the head coach of the boys’ varsity basketball team. He was promoted to Associate Athletic Director under Troy Engle the following year. As the AAD, some of his responsibilities have included site administration and event set-up, scheduling of facilities and fields, student-athlete registrations, VPA coaching education compliance, educating and assisting coaches on state wide technology platforms such as Arbiter and SportsYou, work with partners such as Hudl and Nike/BSN, serves as advisor of the student-athlete advisory council, and a member of the VPA DEI committee.
“The last three years in Athletics have been rewarding, building relationships with coaches, student-athletes, and colleagues,” says Rainville. “ I have enjoyed working alongside Troy, Kathleen (Higgs, Field House Director), and Chris (Despins, Athletic Trainer). The AAD role has allowed me to grow and gain experience that will serve me well as AD.”
Since the 2022-2023 season, Patrick has helped guide the Hilltopper Boys Basketball team to the three seed each season, and this year advanced to the Final Four at UVM’s Patrick Gymnasium. During this same time, players have earned recognition as VBCA and VSADA scholar athletes, named to all metro and VBCA teams, as dream dozen recipients, player of the year, and just recently Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year (Rex Hauser).
Patrick’s accomplishments include 2024 VBCA and Metro Coach of the Year, selection by the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association to coach the senior all-star team, and the 2023 Mona Garone Sportsmanship Award under Patrick’s and Varsity Girls’ Head Coach Jade Huntington’s leadership. He continues to serve as the Division 1 representative on the VBCA board.
Patrick holds a BA in Childhood Education from Vermont State University Johnson Campus, formerly Johnson State College, and a Master’s Degree in Sport Coaching & Leadership from Michigan State University.
Associate Headmaster John Lenzini believes Patrick is a perfect fit for the position, “Patrick has shown himself to be an excellent athletics administrator. He is detail-oriented, cultivates student leadership, and develops outstanding learning opportunities for student-athletes and coaches. I am eager for Patrick’s leadership in maintaining the strong tradition of Hilltopper Athletics, and equally excited for his work to innovate and further improve our athletic programming.”
As the winter season fades with the melting snow and everyone’s attention turns to the spring sports, Patrick is also looking to the future. “I would like to thank John Lenzini and Dr. Sharon Howell for the opportunity to serve as the next Athletic Director. I look forward to leading Hilltopper Athletics and working together with coaches and student-athletes to provide an enriching and transformative student-athlete experience. St. Johnsbury Academy Athletics has a proud history of competitive excellence, and we look forward to continuing to pursue that high level of excellence.”
