Since taking over as athletic director at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, Ryan Madden has overseen Needham High School’s athletic program, one that is perennially one of the largest in the state. The program is operating in an increasingly hard-to-navigate high school sports landscape. Private schools and club programs claim to be better able to help student athletes continue to the next level. Parents and students are highly alert to the quality of team culture and the individual interactions with teammates and coaches. And this school year could be challenging as the program will have a relatively large number of new coaches after turnovers at the end of last season.
Yet Needham High coaches, student athletes and parents interviewed by the Observer were largely on the same page: Using the school’s Portrait of a Needham Graduate as a foundation, the program seems to do a good job of combining a drive to win with helping to prepare students for the next chapter of their lives.
Otto Gonzalez, father of rising senior Owen, who plays lacrosse and football and also played freshman hockey, reflected on his experience as a parent of a Needham High student athlete. Gonzalez is treasurer and a board member of the Touchdown Club of Needham, which supports the football and cheer programs. Other parent-led 501(c)(3) charity programs such as the Needham High School Boosters Club and Friends of Needham Lacrosse exist to support Needham High’s many athletic ventures.
“Coach Wainright [David, former boy’s lacrosse coach] has a saying, ‘we have a standard of success’, and it wasn’t so much about wins and losses, but about playing to the expectations that we have for ourselves. I think that’s a good thing because it inspires athletes to prepare, set goals and work to meet those goals. There’s a balance to it as well; this isn’t a professional league, so how do we do the best we can for the students?” Gonzalez said.
| What is the Portrait of a Needham Graduate? The Portrait of a Needham Graduate (PONG), whose development was spearheaded by Superintendent Dan Gutekanst, is the shared vision of the future for Needham pre-K to 12 students. The Portrait aims for five goals for students: being creative thinkers and problem solvers, communicators and collaborators, socially and culturally responsive contributors, responsible and resilient individuals, and empowered learners. “All the ideas that PONG discusses we all agree with, but the fact that Needham sets their strategic goals toward ensuring that we’re doing that and holding coaches and teachers accountable to that is super important,” said athletic director Madden. “If we look at educational athletics, how are we taking the lessons from the classroom onto the field? Instead of a pen, it’s the ball. Instead of a paper, it’s the goal. “The most important section to me is ‘Empowered Learner.’ Athletics tends to lean more towards meritocracy than equity. We can do all that we can to ensure that students have the resources to get to this point, but then students have to earn it,” Madden said. |
Madden, who came to Needham from Milton, which has a smaller program, has helped create some structure to support that balance. He and others formed the Needham Athletics Committee, a group that meets to address the many needs of all the athletic programs in Needham.
“We’re trying to get everybody in a room across different departments, programs, schools and parks to talk about what we all need as a community for our student and adult athletes across the board,” Madden said.
Madden ensured the student athletes also have a platform. The Student-Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) says it seeks to make athletic programs more accessible and equitable, give back to the Needham community, enhance the total athletic experience, promote sportsmanship and address mental health.
“How can we lean on student athletes to be the voice of other student athletes? Because adults don’t always know best,” Madden said. “High school athletics now is much different from when coaches and administrators were involved. It changes so quickly so we have to make sure we’re listening to what’s happening, what our students need and what our students are looking for.”
Gonzalez thinks it’s working. For example, football coach Doug Kopsco, Gonzalez said, “is building a program, it’s not just ‘let’s win this year at all costs’. They have the leadership council [SALT] and they bring in kids of all ages and abilities. Volunteering for the Touchdown Club has given me visibility into how things keep moving in a positive direction. It’s not always about wins and losses, but about character.”
Danielle and Mike Sullivan are parents of two Needham High lacrosse players. Their oldest daughter, Rian Sullivan, graduated in 2024, and their son, Cal, is a rising senior. Cal is looking to play his fourth straight year on the varsity team, and Rian played her junior and senior year on varsity. Danielle is on the board of Friends of Needham Lacrosse, and Mike is a member of the Needham High Boosters Club.
“We’ve seen the program as a whole from a lot of different angles. We think the camaraderie between parents is wonderful, the energy on the hill is always great. It’s been great to see our daughter [Rian] go to college as a student athlete as her path at Needham High set her up for that, and the boys going to the State Finals last year was a really exciting run. It’s always challenging to see your student go through the normal difficulties of being both a student and an athlete, but those are important lessons that will benefit them later on,” Mike Sullivan said.
Danielle Sullivan reflected on the challenges that being part of such a competitive high school sports program can bring.
“It’s a competitive program. We offer so many sports, more than most high schools [in the state]. It’s difficult to walk on without any experience. There are kids that play their whole life in one sport who also play for club teams, so it can be a challenge for someone who just wants to be able to try something [playing a sport].
“That also goes for playing time. There are opportunities on a freshman or JV team, but at the varsity level you’re surrounded by a lot of talented kids. To earn your playing time and get out there you have to show what it looks like to be a good teammate, and to take criticism. The kids that do all those things tend to play,” Danielle Sullivan said. “Our coaches chose to play really challenging teams and that keeps competition high and expectations high.”
Laura Scully, mother of Tyler Scully, a rising senior with three years experience playing lacrosse and football, and Samantha Scully (Class of 2024) who played four years of soccer, reflected on her experience as a parent, including the loss of talent to private high schools.
“I’ve always encouraged my kids to do their best and have fun. My son [Tyler] went to the state championships for lacrosse last year against St John’s Prep, which is about as high pressure as it gets. The cards were stacked against Needham with St. John’s being a private school that can recruit players. It was a disappointing loss, but what they took away was that they were the best public high school team in the state. We lose players to the private school community.”
Maeve Newman, a rising junior captain of the varsity soccer team, said SALT has been important for the culture of the program.
“The SALT leadership team is something that’s very special about the Needham program. It’s about you being an ambassador to the Needham sports program. It ties in the aspects of being both a student and an athlete, while also bringing the athletic department into more contact with the students.
Newman agrees with the notion that following the Portrait of a Needham Graduate guidelines will lead to success on and off the field.
“It makes our team stronger and more connected. If they’re teaching us how to be good people, then we work together better, and then teams as a whole work better with one another. With Needham being a D1 program, there’s still a focus on trying to win and being ranked high, but Needham does a good job focusing on how you get there — being fair, working hard and putting in the time to be the best. Private schools get to recruit people. We’re a public school, so we have to work with what we have and make the most of what everyone has to give,” Newman said.
Girls varsity volleyball coach Courtney Todesco has nine seasons of experience under her belt, winning two Massachusetts state tournaments and going on many deep playoff runs. When a health teaching position opened up at Pollard, she took that job as well. Todesco says she has attempted to build a culture of care within the program — led by the students.
“I have some incredible student athletes on my team. We also talk about how ‘A Needham volleyball player is …’. To me, the word is ‘kind’, and I want to be known as the program that’s full of kind kids where students feel welcome and comfortable. I feel like the students really buy into it. They often describe the team as a family more than anything else,” Todesco said.
“My most successful teams, not only in terms of wins but in terms of a feeling of fulfillment about the season, has been when we’ve had great leadership, not only from the captains but also from the seniors as a whole. When kids all feel like they have a role, that’s when you have such great leadership. We do pregame speeches, and we’ve started doing it where a senior has to do the pregame speech.” Todesco said.
While winning percentage and championship success is always a driving factor, the quest to win is not in conflict with enforcing the Portrait of a Needham Graduate values, according to Madden.
Boys soccer coach Jim Odierna, Madden said, “harps on this all the time — sportsmanship is our biggest thing. Oftentimes, people think of sportsmanship and winning as separate. Both can be true. You can teach these values while also trying to win. The culture ingrained in any winning team begins in the offseason, with how the students are preparing themselves on and off the field. It’s about accountability, and when you can’t hold yourself accountable outside the court, it’s going to translate.
“We’re creating better students and people first, then creating better athletes. Coach Kopsco does a phenomenal job with promoting culture first, even though they just went to the Super Bowl and haven’t lost a home game in my time here. Their wristband is ‘accountability, family, respect, effort, toughness and all-in.’ It has nothing to do with wins, it’s about how you are as a person,” Madden said. “We didn’t win a state championship this year, but that doesn’t mean that coaches didn’t do the right thing or that students didn’t do their job.”
According to Madden, even the most talented recently graduated student athletes have made “life first” decisions.
“You have students that are making decisions for their academics, career, and life choices first, and if they can play a sport along the way then that’s great. Students are student-centered, and understand that it’s bigger than sports, so that when you’re done with sports, you’re ready,” Madden said.
Ben Petteruti is a student at Occidental College
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