Sonny Day

Today, former Melrose Athletic Director Ellis "Sonny" Lane celebrates induction into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. Coach Lane's Wakefield basketball teams won a state championship, the school's only Division I sectional championship, numerous other titles, and he received many area and national honors for coaching excellence. How did he do it?

We practiced one day in 1973, doing a medicine ball passing drill, passing a heavy ball back and forth rapidly between two lines of players. During the drill, sophomore Roger Lapham (later two-time Middlesex League MVP) got hit in the head by the ball and literally got knocked cold (nowadays a concussion). Coach Lane hadn't seen it, but came over and said, "get up, Roger, you can't be lying down at practice!" Naturally, we were all in stitches, but Roger was okay.

Unlike Roger that day, Coach goes into the Hall of Fame because he always "kept his eye on the ball." His energy and commitment never wavered, his preparation, discipline, and approach remained constant. All his players felt special whether all-scholastic, all-league, or as in my case, all-nothing! He understood and communicated that whatever your role, you needed to do it to the best of your ability. His priorities were family, schoolwork, and basketball.

For our students embarking on summer vacation, "keep your eye on the ball." Spend time with family, exercise, improve yourself, and read some great books, whether they're on your summer reading list or not. I suggest Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, a New York Times bestseller from 2007. You either spend your time or you invest it.