After 19 years as a track coach, history teacher James Sunderland has decided to move in a different direction this Spring.
“I am definitely going to miss coaching track at OA” Sunderland said recently as he reflected on his tenure as Assistant Winter coach and Boy’s Spring head coach.
Coach Sunderland has some very fond memories of coaching here at Oliver Ames. Highlights include winning last year’s state championship in the decathlon. “That was a great way to end my track coaching career at OA.”
Sunderland recently resigned after science teacher Kyle Sousa was named the head girl’s coach for Spring.
“The track program needs a single vision and it has to have a unified set of priorities with the new coaching staff and what the school has decided to do,” Sunderland said, referencing the hiring of new head coach Sousa. “I didn’t feel like it had that anymore.”
“Part of the problem is, I think in the short run having experienced coaches on the team like me and coach Carlton (Williamson) or (Brian) Gotsell would definitely be beneficial. But the track program really needs that single vision moving forward and when the coaching staff doesn’t have that cohesiveness, it becomes very divisive and I didn’t want it to become a situation where we had a separate boy’s and girl’s team.”
Sunderland said leaving after so many years wasn’t easy.
“This was by far the toughest decision I’ve had to make as a coach. I love coaching and I’ve devoted many years to building this program. However, when it became clear that the school wanted to take the program in a different direction, I knew that it was time for me to step away.”
He has many memories from his nearly two decades with the program. Many of the most memorable moments were simple things like unsuccessfully trying to convince Michelle Sirois that 2 liters of Coca-Cola and a half gallon of ice cream was not a good pre-race meal or successfully trying to keep Ryan Lima from accidentally killing himself with a shot put.
Other highlights were major victories and accomplishments. He said coaching athletes like Drew Harrington, Quinn Ryder, Jon Raduazzo, Cam Williamson, MacKenzie Copley, Jake Nevens at the state and national level was amazing. And finishing last year with a tremendous group of guys (Aaron MacDonald, Sean Flaherty, Ryan Petrillo, Harrison Webster, Ryan Hilliard, and Ashton Hart) and winning a state championship in the decathlon was a great way to end my track coaching career at OA.
He also said he knows many current team members were disappointed by his decision to resign.
“I know there will be athletes that are upset and disappointed with my decision. Unfortunately that doesn’t change the fact that I believe this is the best decision for both myself and the program. Anytime you lose a knowledgeable coach it hurts the program, but that was going to happen eventually. By leaving now, coach Sousa can begin the process of building his program and instilling his values.”
He said many of the other coaches, including Gotsell, Williamson, and Adam Pomella, are leaving as well, for a variety of reasons, allowing Sousa the chance to build his own coaching staff.
As for the future, Sunderland said he has received offers from numerous teams in the region. “Honestly most of them are something I’m not interested in doing. It looks an awful lot like I’m helping out at Taunton High School. I’m not going to take a paid position. For now, I’m going to take a step back a little bit.”