Boys Varsity Ice Hockey

J.R. Zavisza joined the Loomis Chaffee community as a U.S. history and global human rights teacher and head coach of the Loomis Chaffee boys hockey team in 2010. In his time at the helm, Loomis has emerged as a major contender on the prep circuit, capturing multiple New England Prep School Athletic Conference championships.

Before arriving at Loomis, J.R. amassed 10 years of high school coaching experience in addition to an extensive playing background. In high school, he played hockey and lacrosse at Avon Old Farms before heading west for his senior year to become a part of the U.S. under-18 hockey team in Ann Arbor, Mich.

From Ann Arbor, J.R. headed to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he majored in history and was twice named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team. During his junior year at UMass, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach for Belchertown High School in Belchertown, Mass., where he would spend five seasons, the final two as head coach. In his first season with Belchertown, the team earned the Fay-Wright Division title. Upon graduation from UMass in 2003, J.R. remained at the university to complete his master's degree in history and to work for the Athletic Department as an academic advisor.

After earning his master’s degree in 2006, he began his teaching career at Avon Old Farms, where he spent four years honing his craft. As the head coach of the Varsity B team at Avon, J.R. led his team to back-to-back Bob Rust Tournament championships in 2008 and 2009. In international competition, J.R. has coached teams to gold (2010), silver (2012), and bronze (2006) at the U-16 Cris Ver Wijst World Tournament in Tilburg, Netherlands. Using his European connections, the Loomis varsity team travels to Europe before the start of the season to play and compete internationally.

J.R. lives on campus with his wife, daughter, and son and coaches JV boys lacrosse in the spring.

Steve Novodor joined the Loomis Chaffee ice hockey program in 2010 along with head coach J.R. Zavisza. Since joining, Novodor has been part of a program that has emerged as a major contender on the prep circuit, making the prep playoffs for three consecutive seasons and winning the Founders League title in 2015 and the Large School New England championship in 2014.

In addition to his work at Loomis, Novodor is a coach at the Yale Jr. Bulldogs program, serving as the head coach of the national champion U-16 Tier 1 split season team. Prior to joining the Bulldogs, Novodor spent numerous seasons in the Junior Bobcats/Wolf Pack organization, coaching at the peewee, bantam, and midget levels.

Novodor is one of the premier hockey coaches in the country, and his knowledge, integrity, and passion for developing players is invaluable in elevating the Loomis Chaffee ice hockey program to where it currently is.

John Cunningham joined the Island in 2017, after graduating from Connecticut College with a double major in United States History and United States Government. He currently works as the Sports Information Director in the Athletics and Communications and Marketing Departments, lives in Warham Hall, and is also the assistant varsity lacrosse coach.

Having grown up in Cheshire, Conn., Cunningham played his youth hockey under current Loomis assistant hockey coach Steve Novodor, before playing at Cheshire High School, where he was named a First Team All State defender is freshman, sophomore, and junior year, while winning state championships his freshman and junior year.

He then attended Pomfret School for two years and was named an All New England defenseman as a junior and a senior.

In college he played soccer and lacrosse, and worked for the men's hockey team as a statistician and broadcaster.