By Darren O’Malley
Kyle Sousa, 30, is a Biology teacher and Cross Country coach that continues to spark the minds of students in his nine years at Oliver Ames so far as he inspires them in this eternal race.
Coming from the southbound town of Dighton, Massachusetts, Sousa was a bright student and aspiring runner at Dighton Rehoboth High School, where he went from a rookie to an all-star from the summer of 2000 to his senior year of high school. Like most people, the road to the top was not a simple walk in the park, it took guts and determination to succeed.
“My first few months running, it was just so must exhaustion. I remember getting side stitch cramps a lot of the time,” Mr. Sousa said, eyes wandering around the room.
Mr. Sousa was not the experienced Boston Marathon runner back then as he was today, he started from ground level, facing struggles that plenty of runners have dealt with before. Aches and pains may have spread through his body; the feeling of rusty gears scraping against each other, but as he traversed on the beaten down dirt paths, every step he took revealed his progression to success.
“I always remember one time we were running over the summer with the upperclassmen, and our normal run was like two to three, three and a half miles. And one day, they were like “Ok, we’re a month into the training, time to go for a seven mile run!” And for the veterans that was fine but the rest of us we had never run seven miles before, and it was a new route so the entire time I was trying to tag along and not miss a turn,” Mr. Sousa said, fiddling a cup in his hands. During this moment, the shock of being a beginner shook him, but did not deter him from treading on everyday with the upperclassmen.
Cross Country is meant to be a non-contact sport; people are not supposed to be slamming each other into the cold, compact, ground, yet people do not always treat it that way. Some courses, whether they are coarse and full of rocks and foreign tree roots, or close quarters, competitors are bound to end up colliding and kicking up dust and other racers with them.
“The first race in high school, was a South Coast Conference Jamboree, at a park at Lakeville. I definitely went out too fast, definitely thought I was a little bit too ahead early, and a really big mean kid, kinda shoved me into a tree, in the middle of the race. And I just remember being like ‘That, I did not know that was a part of the sport; I did not know that was allowed.’ It was kind of a rude awakening,” Mr. Sousa said, chuckling at the memory of the bitter race.
As simple as running may seem, an actual race and even running with classmates can be exhausting. Mr. Sousa’s first competitive race was a rude awakening to how ambitious other racers can be to finish first, jabbing others with elbows on purpose or by accident. After this bumpy race, Mr. Sousa spruced things up, climbing to a level during Senior year that compares to OA’s top runner for Boys Cross Country Brent Schwartz.
“My favorite thing about running? I definitely appreciate being part of a team, part of a program. Whether it was me on my high school team or me on my college team, or now me getting to coach and work with a team from that perspective, there’s definitely something to be said about being on a team,” said Mr. Sousa, attempting to focus on one of the plethora of things he enjoys about running.
Mr. Sousa always seeks to improve and maintain his peak performance as a coach. Running is not smooth sailing at first, even though it’s an ability most people are able to do. As he watches students develop and improve, he sees youth of Oliver Ames striving for greatness, as they all pave their own paths in life.
“You’re no better than anyone, but no one’s better than you. You don’t let somebody talk down to you but you don’t talk down to somebody either, you put everyone at eye level.”