Colleagues,
We are proud to announce that a Massachusetts vocational technical athletic director has received Statewide recognition! Old Colony Athletic Director Matt Trahan was named the recipient of the Sherman A. Kinney Award from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association!
The award, which honors the late Sherman A. Kinney, is given each year to an individual that demonstrates the values of integrity, honesty, and sportsmanship.
“It’s a real honor,” said the 45-year-old Trahan. “I just try to do the right things by the kids every day.”
MAVA extends its sincere congratulations to Matt on achieving another statewide recognition and we thank him for all he does for students in our Commonwealth!
David
Longtime Old Colony boys basketball coach wins MIAA leadership award
Laurie Los Lee The Standard-Times
For Acushnet’s Matt Trahan, coaching basketball is not a job. “I love what I do,” said the longtime boys basketball coach at Old Colony. Trahan recently received the Sherman A. Kinney Award from the MIAA during the Div. 4 state final between Wareham and Bourne on March 17 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
The award, which honors the late Kinney, is given each year to an individual that demonstrates the values of integrity, honesty, and sportsmanship. “It’s a real honor,” said the 45-year-old Trahan. “It came by surprise. I’ve worked with a lot of unbelievable coaches and athletic directors. “I just try to do the right things by the kids every day.”
Trahan has coached boys basketball at Old Colony for the past 25 years, starting off as the freshman coach for two years, working 12 years as the JV coach and spending the 11 years as the varsity head coach.
His varsity teams have captured 165 wins, four Mayflower Athletic Conference championships and three State Vocational titles as well as qualified for the MIAA tournament 10 out of 11 seasons.
“I’ve spent my entire career at Old Colony,” said the Bishop Stang graduate. “I started at the ground level and earned my way up.”
Trahan has been the school’s athletic director for the past 20 years. He’s also served as the president of the Mayflower Athletic Conference for 11 years and is currency the MAC vice president, a position he’s held the last six years. In addition, Trahan has represented District 8 as a member of the MIAA Board of Directors for the past six years.
I have a very supportive family at home,” Trahan said. “I couldn’t do this without them.” Trahan had his family — wife, Katie, daughter, Jaedyn, and sons, Jaxson and Hudson — with him as he received the Kinney Award.
“I just loved having my family there,” he said. “I thank them a lot. I get to do this because of their support. Basketball is a night-in night-out grind. It was rewarding to have my kids look up to their dad and say, ‘It’s awesome.” Trahan said he’s tried to instill a family atmosphere at Old Colony.
A simple text drew 35 former players to a recent alumni game.
“They’re all giving hugs,” Trahan said. “I think what we’re doing over there has come full circle and it’s a family thing. Even though they’re removed from the school, they still feel a part of the family.”
Old Colony football and softball head coach Brandon Mendez said that Trahan has set the bar high for the entire Cougars athletic department.
“Not only does Mr. Trahan carry himself as ethical, fair and consistently withholding the values of sportsmanship, but he commits all the coaches and athletes around him to the same level of expectations,” Mendez said in his nomination of Trahan. “There is no question in my mind that he is the driving force behind the strong tradition and reputation that is sportsmanship at Old Colony.”
Trahan, the 2018 Massachusetts Secondary Schools Athletic Directors Association (MSSADA) Athletic Director of the Year, will receive the MSSADA Professional Development Award at this week’s conference.
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
DavidFerreira
