Mr. Sousa has been running for almost all of his life. Ever since high school Mr. Sousa has had a passion for running, he’s competed a lot even in college. Now as a three season coach at OA, Mr. Sousa has received the ¨Coach of the Year¨ award.
¨Honestly it has been a humbling experience to be selected. They call it “Coach of the Year” and it sounds so individual, but the truth is everything I do here at OA is part of a tremendous community effort. This award will in my mind always be something I share with those people, along with countless moments and memories.¨
With the help of the OA community Mr. Sousa was able to win this award. With a long background of coaching at OA, Mr. Sousa has earned this award for all he has done through all three seasons.
¨ I have been coaching for sixteen years. I started in 2007 here at OA while I was student-teaching; I was an assistant coach for a number of years. Coaching all three seasons is definitely demanding on my schedule. In my own athletic career, and now as a coach, I always have this experience that; there is always something I’m looking forward to next.¨
Throughout Mr. Sousa´s career he has gotten to follow his passion, from competing to coaching, he has always had a passion for the sport.
¨Running has been a lifelong passion for me; I ran for Dighton-Rehoboth High School, and then for Stonehill College. After college I continued running competitively, gradually working my way up to (Boston and New York); After graduating from Stonehill I was lucky to find a great teaching opportunity her at OA, but also an opportunity to coach cross country and track and field¨
Mr. Sousa´s passion for running has also fueled his passion for coaching. He has learned a lot from all the competitions, events, and hardships he has gone through, that made him into the coach he is today.
¨I think athletics are a vehicle for teaching values–concepts like integrity, commitment, sacrifice, dedication. What athletics does is say look, you can have all of that, but it will be hard, and you will have to dig deep within yourself. You will have to struggle to get to the place you want to be. At some point you look back and realize it was less about the place you were going and more about the person you had to become in order to get there. Watching OA student athletes become those people is why I’m still coaching. It never ceases to amaze and inspire me.¨