Belmont Girls’ Rugby Romps In Season Opening Matches

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Photo: Belmont High Junior Callie Weissman on the run vs. Lincoln Sudbury.

The two-time consecutive state champions Belmont High Girls’ Rugby program got down to the business of defending its crown beginning the season with a pair of dominate performances.

The Marauders’ open its campaign for a third banner by defeating last year’s championship finalist Lincoln-Sudbury Regional, 57-28, at Harris Field, Friday, April 5. On Wednesday, April 10, Belmont shut out 2017 finalist Algonquin Regional, 52-0.

Asked about the outstanding performance of her team, Belmont Head Coach Kate McCabe said “we’re really lucky to have a mature squad. We have a lot of seniors and that says also a lot about the depth that they are building for the future.”

In the first game, Belmont was led by last year’s Boston Globe All-Scholastic senior Gabriella (Gabby) Viale as the Marauders took control early on both sides of the ball and never allowed Lincoln-Sudbury to establish an offensive rhythm.

It was Viale four trys – the equivalent of a touchdown – that showed . The first came when Viale made a quick start before Lincoln Sudbury was set and outran its backline to the end zone. Her second was a 60 meters solo scamper after breaking through the L/S defense, the third was the culmination of a series of grind-it-out runs. Viale’s fourth was simply sublime as she kicked the ball over the approaching defense, ran through the L/S line to scoop up the ball for her final try.

“My backline was doing such a good job of using the space, cutting and taking the angles that I was able to make those plays,” said Viale.

Replacing graduated all-scholastic Jessica Rosenstein in the critical scrum-half role, sophomore Sadie Kabhrel belied her youth by defending the ball exiting the ruck and scrum while completing nearly all her releases out to the wings.

“She would not let anyone push her around,” said Viale. “Sadie’s been fantastic with her passes as she’s getting them out really wide and we didn’t have that many drop balls.”

Belmont was up 37-7 at the halftime break and was never threatened.

“We came out with so much power it will only get better from here,” said Viale, who has established herself as one the premier players in the state. “Everyone came out so hard and really wanted it.”

In the second match against the T-Hawks, Belmont’s aggressive defense led by the likes of left wing Ana Oteri (who in the previous game took down Lincoln Sudbury’s quick wings with a series of heavy tackles), Number 8 Sam Dignan and Prop Grace Christensen, kept Algonquin on its side of the field.

The game’s offensive punch came from junior Callie Weissman who plays on the front row as the tighthead (right) prop, not normally the position that comes up with multiple trys which Weissman collected.

“I was really excited for this match because I was feeling really strong during warm up, so just being able to get the ball and to have the space to charge through the line was great, Weissman said.

Despite starting the season on a strong note, McCabe doesn’t have plans to keep the squad’s roster static for the rest of the campaign.

“I think we’re checking out a bunch of options. Just because someone has played a position doesn’t mean that’s where we’re going to play them in the future. We are not going to be complacent where we are,” said McCabe.

“These girls watch themselves play and recognize what they need to work on. They are really honest about saying things that go well and things that [the coaches] ask them to be better about,” said McCabe who took more than a dozen players on the rugby club’s spring trip abroad, this year heading to northern Spain.

Belmont Girls’ Lax Ride The Wave To Thrilling OT Win In Season Opener

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Photo: Belmont’s Jordan Coppolo (#4) scoring the winning goal in OT vs Billerica.

As the team was heading out onto the Harris Field turf for sudden death overtime, Belmont High Girls’ Head Coach Kathryn Anaian called out to them: “Ride the wave!” 

Anaian was speaking about the momentum the team created in the second half of its game against Billerica Memorial High School in the season opener on March 28. After trailing 11-7 at the half, the Marauders’ held Billerica to just a pair of goals while scoring six second-half tallies that resulted in the extra frame.

“[Junior midfielder Carolyn] Findlay made a great comment at halftime. Let’s get the momentum, let’s fire everyone up and ride that wave. And we actually did it,” said Anaian. 

Riding high on that crest was a pair of sophomores who were critical in the unfolding contest. After tying the game with a little more than a minute to play in the game, goalie Kendall Whalen produced a stellar one-on-one save with 8 seconds to play, one of seven she registered in the game to keep the game squared at 13.

It would come down to Belmont’s most dangerous attack forward Jordan Coppolo (4 goals) to make the play of the game after receiving a pass from Marauder All-Star Findlay (6 goals, 2 assists). Rushing into the slot, Coppolo would gather the ball between four Billerica defenders and score on a shot high in the net to secure an exciting come-from-behind victory.

“We needed this first win as a [starting] point and we got it,” said Anaian. “If this is our starting point, I’m happy.”

Belmont came out strong to open the game, scoring three times in the first five minutes by dominating ground balls and faceoffs. While the defense was playing an aggressive style against Billerica’s attackers, the Marauders found themselves behind 11-5 before two late goals from Findlay and Coppolo allowed for some hope of a comeback at the half.

“We have a ton to work on but I can’t coach heart and I can’t coach work ethic. And I have a team where everyone is all in. And for that reason alone, we will be successful,” said Anaian.

What’s In A Name? Plenty As New School Building To Get A Moniker

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Photo: Could this be the new Hogwarts School, Belmont Campus? 

With groundbreaking for the new 7-12 grade school building just 10 weeks away, there’s one thing still missing from the $295 million project.

What’s it called? And like a newborn, you need to get it right off the bat as you’re not getting a second chance. 

Belmont Superintendent John Phelan told the Belmont School Committee on Tuesday, March 26, the Belmont High Building Committee will accept a name from the Policy Subcommittee for the building by May 1 with students and teachers being asked over the next week to contribute to the list of names and assist in whittling down the hopefuls to a handful.

Collecting and coordinating the naming effort are Belmont High Building Committee members Chenery Principal McAllister and Belmont High educator Jamie Shea.

With the countdown starting for when the five-year project commences in late May, Phelan said the Massachusetts School Building Authority – which partnered with the School District in building the new school – knowing that signage and written material will need to be ready by groundbreaking gave the Building Committee “complete permission” to come up with a name that “we would be moving forward.”

After Belmont High sophomore Grace Kane asked if the name change would be effective on May 1, Phelan said “out of respect” for the students at the current school will continue attending “Belmont High School” for the remainder of their schooling.

Phelan read out the names that have been collected over the past two years from teachers, students, and resident in visioning sessions held early in the design process.

The current list includes:

  • Belmont High School
  • Belmont Middle/High schools
  • Belmont High School Upper School/Lower School
  • Belmont High School, Lower Division/Upper Division
  • Belmont Secondary School, Upper school/Lower school
  • Belmont 7-12 School, Upper School/Lower School
  • Belmont High School Academy/Belmont Junior Academy
  • Belmont Academy Upper School/Lower School
  • Belmont Academies
  • Belmont Junior/Senior High schools

“They all revolve around trying to capture that Belmont High should be part of the branding but also with the full acknowledgment that we have a middle school that will now accompany the school,” said Phelan. A name should provide “middle school students a name of their own to call where they go to school,” he noted. 

There are examples of how school districts named buildings that house more than the traditional 9-12 grade arrangement. The town of Lee has “Lee Middle and High School.” Carver, located way far away, named its school “Carver Middle High School,” West Bridgewater has a brand new 7-12 “Middle-Senior High School” and the communities of Dennis and Yarmouth is known as “Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School.”

Thinking out of the box, the town of Easton named its high school after the son of the shovel magnate Oliver Ames and Westford kept “Academy” to its high school as it was a private school until the 1920s. 

And why not HSS Academy? Constance Billard-St.Judes School? North Shore High School? And, of course, there’s Hogwarts School, Belmont Campus.

As for Phelan?

“It’ll probably be Belmont High School,” he said to the committee.

Feed Me, Seymour! Belmont High Presents ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’ March 21-23

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Photo: Poster for this year’s musicial, Little Shop of Horrors

Don’t feed the plant!

For its spring musical, Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents “Little Shop of Horrors” produced and directed by Ezra Flam.

Performances will take place on:

  • Thursday, March 21 and Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. and
  • Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Tickets:

  • ADULTS: $15 in advance, $18 at the door
  • CHILDREN/STUDENTS: $10 ($5 tickets for high school students for the Thurusday Mar. 21 show)

Tickets on sale at bhs-pac.org and at Champions in Belmont Center

All performances will be in the Belmont High School auditorium.

An off-Broadway hit 35 years ago which was turned into a cult-favorite rock/horror/comedy film, “Little Shop” has become a contemporary musical theater classic. The show featured a catchy score inspired by 60’s rock, doo-wop and Motown, written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the duo responsible for “Beauty & the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin.”

The show features a giant, talking plant puppet – operated by three students – a chorus of singing and dancing street Urchins and a crowd-pleasing score, including “Suddenly Seymour,” “Somewhere That’s Green,” the Dentist’s over-the-top rock song (made famous in the movie by Steve Martin) and more.

The big test that faced producer and director Ezra Flam was taking a show that orginiated on a cramped stage Off-Off-Broadway and ramp it up to include a cast of thousands (well, nearly 100.)

“One of the fun challenges of this show has been expanding a show that traditionally has a small cast of nine performers, to work for our cast of almost 90,” he said.

“We have widened to world of the show, expanding the trio of street urchins to ten, adding a group of dancers who serve as a bridge between the gritty world of Skid Row and the fantasy of a glamorous life Seymour finds himself in, and filling out the world of Skid Row. Every character in the show has some part in pushing Seymour down his dark path, culminating in a huge finale song ‘Don’t Feed the Plants’ that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.” said Flam.

“This production showcases what the Performing Arts Company does best: give our actors and stage crew the chance to learn about theater by creating a fully realized production,” Flam noted.

“The set will bring the world of Skid Row to life, and then open up to reveal the inside of the flower show; the costumes capture a colorful 1960s aesthetic; as always, the singing and dancing are sure to be a highlight of the show, especially with incredibly fun songs serving as a creative springboard, and a Pit Orchestra made up of mostly of students, under the direction of Arto Asadoorian.”

Kings Of The North: Belmont Boys’ D2 Sectional Champions After Dominating North Andover

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Photo: Kings of the North, 2019 Belmont High School

Belmont High School senior guard and co-captain Danny Yardemian said at the beginning of the 2018-19 season he didn’t want to end his basketball career without bringing a title, make that any title, back to the school. 

On Saturday, Yardemian and his fellow Marauders picked up that long-sought after silverware and will be placing a sectional crown into the school’s trophy case as number one seed Belmont captured the Division 2 North title beating defending champions North Andover, 64-51, on March 9 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. 

“It’s mission accomplished,” said Yardemian, whose magical season continues having set new school marks for game scoring (46 points) and career points now somewhere close to 1,400. 

“I’m so proud of my team mates, we as a team worked so hard for this. Words can’t describe it. It’s surreal,” he said. 

The victory sends Belmont (23-2) to the Eastern Mass championships against the defending Division 2 state title holders, TechBoston Academy, on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:15 p.m. at the TD Garden. It will be a rematch from last month when TechBoston outlasted Belmont, 73-68, in the finals of the Comcast Classic in Woburn.

“It sounds good to me,” said Belmont Head Coach Adam Pritchard when asked his thoughts of playing for the second time on the Garden parquet floor this season – a loss to Algonquin Regional High School in January – now for the eastern Mass title.

The victory is the first sectional title since 2007 when Belmont, coincidentally, defeated North Andover before losing to Catholic Memorial in the Eastern finals.

The game was decided over the final four plus minutes of the third quarter when the Marauders outplayed an exhausted Scarlet Knights team to the tune of 17-1. The game also turned into a showcase for sophomore reserve forward Preston Jackson-Stephens who dominated the hardwood on both ends of the court coming off the bench, scoring 18 points (co-high scorer with Yardemian and North Andover’s Jake McElroy) and taking on North Andovers’ front line.

“It didn’t matter who was against me, it was the Eye on the Prize. The only person who can stop me is me, no other opponent [can],” said Jackson-Stephens.

“Preston came in and made some big moves and helped us out a great deal,” said Pritchard, in his 19th year at the helm of the Marauders.

The first half was a game of runs with Belmont stretching up to a lead only to see North Andover bounce back. After senior co-captain Ben Sseruwagi opened the scoring with a hoop and one – which was accompanied by a pose in front of the Scarlet Knights bench – Belmont fell behind 6-3 when Jackson-Stephens gave the crowd a preview of his night by driving to the basket for two than hitting a line drive 3 as part of a 7-0 Belmont run.

Behind by one, 11-10, enter the second, the Marauders took advantage of its speed and confidence with the ball. After Sseruwagi made two free throws, Jackson-Stephens had a monster block then drove the length of the court before being fouled and converting one of two from the charity stripe to put Belmont up 16-15 with 6 minutes to play. The Marauders would then run off a 12-2 spurt over the next four minutes highlighted by threes from sophomore Tim Minicozzi who ended with 9 for the game and senior co-captain center Daniel Seraderian (5 points) who played stellar defense against North Andovers’ big men.

After Yardemian hit one of two from the line to give Belmont a double digit lead, 29-19, with two minutes left, the Marauders appeared to be cruising to a big lead at the half. But North Andover would put on a furious comeback culminating with a pair of 3s from senior guard Jake McElroy and junior guard Kyle Moore (whose basket bounced three times before dropping) and cutting Belmont’s advantage to 30-29 at the break. 

The Knights came out strong early in the second half, up 38-36 when Sseruwagi tied it up with a behind his back drive to the hoop at 4:30 in the quarter. And for the remainder of the half, it was all Belmont as they ran North Andover ragged, outscoring the Knights 17-1 in a display of both ends of the floor total basketball with Jackson-Stephens starting the push with a driving hoop followed by Yardemian’s two in the lane.

After Minicozzi nailed a jumped and one from distance to increase to lead to 10, 49-39, North Andover called a time out with 1:14 left in an attempt to stem the bleeding. But Belmont took the ball from the Knights resulting in another Jackson-Stephens basket who scored eight points in the quarter while Sseruwagi (12 points) threw down seven of his own in the run.

By its end of the third quarter, North Andover was looking up at a 16 point deficit with the final 8 minutes before them. There was no response to the onslaught as Belmont eased through the fourth, going up by 20, 62-42, midway through the quarter, to claim their prize. 

For Belmont Head Coach Adam Pritchard, the victory was due to the “five good offensive weapons” on the court at any one time. And when the game was close at the half, “It was the players that talked about defense and rebounding.”

“The reality is that half time was all about Danny Yardemian, Ben Sseruwagi, [center] Jake Herlihy and [Seraderian] did all the talking,” said Pritchard. And that group returned to the court and proved they could walk the walk.

Belmont Girls’, Boys’ Basketball Earn 1 Seed In North Sectionals

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Photo: Belmont High Boys and Girls have home playoff games.

It’s always impressive for a school’s sports team to be selected the number-one seed in a sectional playoff; it’s an honored earned by a squad for an excellence on the field throughout the entire season.

What’s even more accomplished as well as being extremely rare? Having both teams in a sport – boys’ and girls’ – each selected as one seeds. It happened this basketball season and it happened in Belmont.

On Friday, Feb. 22, at the annoucement of the MIAA basketball tournament, both Marauder teams were selected the number one seeds in their respected divisions – the girls’ in Division 1 and the boys’ in Division 2 – in the North Sectionals which starts next week.

And with the seeding come the matchups and holding the top ranks secures possibily two home games in the first round and quarterfinals for the girls and a quarterfinal match for the boys.

The girls will first play against the winner of the bye-in game between Everett and Beverly (both 10-10) on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Wenner Field House at 7 p.m. If they win on Thursday, Belmont will play the winner of the Woburn (13-7) against Cambridge (14-6) contest, time and date to be determined.

After a bye in the first round, the boys will step on the court to take on a Middlesex League rival, the winner of the Arlington (12-8) vs. Melrose (10-8) first round clash, on Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in Belmont.

Belmont Wrestling Is Up Off The Mat, Sends Three Grapplers To States

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Photo: Belmont High Senior Justin Darling winning his match vs. Arlington.

By Max Dionne

In December, a 106 pound Belmont High School freshman named Ken Kitamura brought a ray of hope to a recently down-on-its-luck sports team; he pinned his Wellesley opponent in the first 14 seconds of the very first match of the season.

Two years removed from a winless 2016-2017 season and a one win 2017-2018 season, Belmont High School Wrestling this season fought its way back into respectability with a 7-7 record. Belmont’s success has its roots years in the making. The hard work and recruiting of young talent by coaches Andy MacAulay, Keith Dionne and Andrew McCahill – for the first time in years Belmont was able to send out a wrestler in each weight class at meets – rebuilt a program which had struggled since its glory days when the Baghdady family and a giant named Comeau ruled the mats for the Marauders.

Yet the season started under a dark cloud. Having lost starters Mohammed Abdel-Salem and Omer Rona to graduation, the team suffered a significant setback when senior captain Bryson Lipson, last year’s third-ranked 182 lbs wrestler in the state, was ruled out for the season with an ACL, joining last year’s only state competitor, Abe Lipson, also lost to injury

But through hard work, team effort, and aggressive wrestling, Belmont was able to leave a marker through its journey this season including upsetting longtime Middlesex League powerhouses Woburn (41-39) and Lexington (49-30) in December. After suffering a tough loss to Reading (57-24), it came back with four wins against two losses in back to back quad meets, highlighted by sophomore Tariqul (Abid) Islam fighting through an injury to provide the winning pin in nail-biter vs. Pembroke. Belmont then secured a 60-6 blowout over Southbridge and a 49-15 drubbing of Quincy to push its record to 7-6 before falling to a talented Arlington squad in the final meet of the year at Belmont Little Gym.

Senior Justin Darling (170 lbs) led the team throughout the season and established himself as the program’s star, securing a 12-6 record, with four of those losses to wrestlers ranked in the top six in the state. He placed at every tournament he competed this season including a second place finish at Belmont’s annual Brendan Grant Memorial Tournament. He was also the only Belmont wrestler to place (a fifth) in the highly competitive Woburn Invitational Tournament that brings in many of the state’s top teams and competitors.

On Feb. 9, Belmont competed in the MIAA Division 2 Metro Sectionals to decide which wrestler would compete in the D2 State Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-17. The Marauders battled exceptionally well across all weight classes with most wrestlers winning at least a match. At the end of the day, Belmont finished in the top 10 at ninth, with 96 points. Leading the way, and advancing to State Tournament are second place finishers Darling and junior Max Dionne (152 lbs) and third place finisher Mohamood (Mody) Abdel-Salem (138 lbs). Also scoring at the sectionals were senior captain Kamyar Nouri (285 lbs) and Islam (113 lbs) in fifth place and Gustav Bauerle (160 lbs) with a sixth-place finish.

In the state Division 2 championships, Darling compiled a 4-2 record, defeating the same North Attleborough in his first and final match to take fifth place in the 170 division. After pinning his first opponent, Dionne lost a pair of bouts by a single point to bow out of the competition while Abdel-Salam gained a great deal of experience in his two matches.

While Belmont finished 37th with 16 points, the Marauders are certainly back in the fight. 

North Middlesex Regional’s Taylor Named Belmont High’s New Principal

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Photo: Isaac Taylor inspecting the new school housing North Middlesex Regional.

Isaac Taylor, whose teaching and leadership career spans an ocean and three decades, has been named the next principal of Belmont High School, according to the Belmont School District. Taylor starts his tenure on July 1.

“I have 14 years experience in raising standards, maximizing student learning and engagement and ensuring accountability,” wrote Taylor in his LinkedIn profile. “I am passionate about working to help all students and staff reach their potential, enjoy challenging themselves, and become life long learners.”

Taylor comes to Belmont High after four and a half years as principal of North Middlesex Regional, a 9-12 high school located hard on the New Hampshire border servicing the towns of Townsend, Pepperell, and Ashby.

During his stay at North Middlesex, Taylor guided the school community’s move into a new $89 million structure in the fall of 2017. He also had to contend on that opening day with a threat against the school requiring students and staff to pass through metal detectors to enter the building.

According to an article in the Nashoba Valley Voice, Taylor spent part of his childhood in the U.K., and part in Acton, Mass. After receiving his BA in Liberal Arts from the Harvard University Extension School, Taylor began is teaching career in 2001 across the Atlantic in the historic cathedral town of Canterbury in southeast England. He spent three years as an English teacher at Canterbury High School (now Canterbury Academy) while earning a teacher certification from Canterbury Christ Church University College.

Beginning in 2004, Taylor was a teacher and administrator for nine years at Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School in Canterbury for the next nine years, five as an English and Physiology teacher and four as assistant principal. During that time, he obtained a master’s in school and education management from King’s College, London.

In the fall of 2013, Taylor enrolled at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education where he earned a Master of Education with a concentration in school leadership, while serving a principal internship at Boston Latin Academy. 

Who’s Number 1? Belmont! Girls’ Hoops Top Globe’s Top 20 Poll

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Photo: Belmont’s Maiya Bergdorf  (41) in action against Winchester. (David Flanagan photo)

Belmont High School Girls’ Basketball Head Coach Melissa Hart hadn’t heard the news until late Wednesday, Feb. 6.

“Oh really? I did not see that,” she wrote after being informed that her team was on top of the Boston Globe Top 20 Girls Basketball poll, ranked number 1 after the two teams that had been above them for weeks on end, Bridgewater Raynham and Cathedral, lost for the first time in the previous week.

Not that being number 1 is that unusual for an undefeated team, 15-0, whose tightest margin of victory was a 10 point victory over a tough Reading squad.

(Coincidentally, Belmont’s first opponents as number 1 is against Reading which comes into Wenner Field House on Friday, Feb. 8 with a 12-3 record and only two games behind the Marauders in the race for the Middlesex Liberty title.) 

But for Hart, the rankings are fairly subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. 

“My reaction is you are as good as your last game,” she said, noting that the Globe pollsters probably “didn’t realize we were down by 1 [point] at halftime vs. Burlington.” (Her team did come back to win by 21, 55-34). 

It’s been an impressive season for the Marauders, a team which Hart can put 12 players out on the floor without any drop in skills or intensity. And it’s on the defensive side which anchors the Marauders’ game as its half-court pressure has strangled most rivals attack, limiting challengers to a meager 33 points per game. Hart has the luxury to put out a crew of tall, physical players – led by seniors Jess Giorgio, Ella Gagnon and Jane Mahon – that controls the boards.

Offensively, it’s been four-year varsity guard Megan Tan leading a collection of underclass athletes with tall sophomore Maiya Bergdorf who connects from long-range or driving to the basket and a pair of freshmen guards, Nina Minicozzi and Bridgette Martin, who lead the attack. 

Off the bench are sophomores Kiki Chirstofori, Emma McDevitt, Abigail Morin along with senior Alexandra Keefe, Breah Healey and junior Katie Reynolds. 

As of Thursday, Hart’s attention was on the coming clash with Reading who is led by its league MVP candidate senior Haley Lightbody who was not up to her usual dominating play when Belmont won 54-44 in January.

“This is a big game for both teams, but definitely a bit do or die for them” to catch Belmont in the race for the league championship, said Hart.

Honoring Coach Lyons, From A Player And Coach Who Knows Him Best

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Photo: A collage of memories with Coach Paul Lyons.

by Adam Pritchard
Varsity Boys Basketball Coach
Belmont High School

In 1978, I first started my career in Belmont Basketball when as a third grader I was signed up for the Belmont Youth Basketball Association.  It was in its second year of existence and I fell in love with the sport. In those years following, my mom was running a needlepoint store in Belmont Center. Saturdays I would get dropped on at the high school with a bag lunch and told: “I’ll pick you up around 5:30.” Maybe it was free babysitting for her, but for me, it was the place I looked forward to hanging out at all week.

That summer, after playing organized basketball for the first time, my mom signed me up for a summer camp at Belmont High school run by the Varsity Coach Paul Lyons. It was then that I met one of the most influential people I would ever meet. I can’t say I remember much, memories are fleeting and have their own life, but I do remember coach saying my name and having me demonstrate a shooting form drill with some of the older high school players. I remember being told to “reach up into the cookie jar” and “keep your eyes on the rim.” Its hard to put to words the feelings that go into a moment like that, but I know it made me proud and wanting to work towards improving. I wanted to be part of Belmont Basketball. I wanted to hear Lyons call my name out on that court again.

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the Coach Paul Lyons Scholarship fund can follow the link below.Thanks!
Coach Lyons Court/Scholarship Fund

Following that camp, I committed to basketball. It was a love and the thing I wanted to do more than anything else.  It was my passion and that court was my home.  The court is where I tried out for Varsity.  Its where Coach Lyons met with me to tell me I was cut as a sophomore (a very difficult day).  It’s also where I was named a Varsity player as a junior (a great day),  named me captain as a senior when the other captain (my best friend) got injured.  Its where Coach told me why I wasn’t starting and later told me that I would start.  Its where I learned countless phrases like “success is a journey, not a destination” and “we over me,” “there is no ‘I’ in team” and “be a helper.” It’s where Belmont High School players for 25 years, in practice, would make a steal, an assist, a score, a rebound, or anything positive and here coach boom out… “NICE PLAY!”

Lyons introduced me as freshman coach in 1991, providing me a start in coaching and tutelage to work for one of the finest basketball minds I have ever met. His knowledge of the game was (and is) unparalleled and his teachings of sportsmanship and playing with integrity have been an example for countless players who had the opportunity to play on his teams.  As an assistant, I witnessed the care, precision, preparation, and fairness through which he helped develop players.  He was a master coach.

The Main Court is where I have had the privilege of coaching the Belmont High Boys Varsity for the past 19 years. As varsity coach, I have seen the lasting impact of Paul’s coaching on alumni, current players, and those kids who have been lucky enough to have him as a youth coach in recent years. Every year, I open the season with a call or calls to Lyons – his wife will verify if you need it.  Those calls continue throughout the season because the one thing I know is that I have the greatest resource a coach could ever have and I have so, so much more to learn still. More importantly, the blessings of his mentoring have only been exceeded but his generosity and friendship.

Simply put, I’m a very fortunate coach.

Proudly, with great thanks to the Belmont School Committee, and the support of our Marauder Basketball Association, The Belmont Youth Basketball Association, the Belmont Boosters, the Belmont High School Athletic Department staff, and thousands of basketball players, girls and boys alike who have played BYBA and for Belmont High School, I am honored to be able to coach the inaugural game on Friday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m. vs. Reading Memorial High School, on “COACH LYONS COURT”.

It will be one one of my most cherished moments as a Belmont coach and I hope you are there to share it with me.