BCDS Welcomes New Athletics Director: Coach Levin!

New athletic building......new athletic director.........definitely time for some investigation. We sent Emily Belowich '11 straight to the source. Meet Coach Levin!

EMILY BELOWICH '11

EB: What drew you to the athletic program at Beaver?

Coach Levin: I would definitely have to say the energy and enthusiasm behind the administration is what drew me to the Beaver athletic program. Having the opportunity to take this program to the next level is something that will take commitment, and I can see the dedication is beginning to show in many of the student athletes here at Beaver.

EB: So far, what do you like most about Beaver?
Coach Levin: No doubt, hands down, the kids. We have a great group of kids and I think the main thing is that we need to focus on setting high expectations. So far, these kids have demonstrated that they know how to do that. I find that I get personal satisfaction when guiding, helping, and inspiring these kids that want to achieve so much and invested so much of themselves into this program. “Treat a person as they are and they will remain as they are. Treat a person as they could be, and they will become what they should be.”

EB: What are your biggest challenges for the year and how do you plan to tackle them?

Coach Levin: Our biggest challenge for the year is to get everybody to understand the expectations. They are going to be set higher than what they have been in the past. Our emphasis this year will be to put in the effort and with effort (over time) comes success. If we can give it our all, that’s all we can do, and we can get the most out of that. We have to realize that every athletic honor is earned somehow. The smallest things make the difference—showing up to practice on-time, giving it your best, playing through adversity. If everyone does their best, that’s all we can ask for.

EB: What are your short and long term goals for the athletic program?

Coach Levin: Our short term goals are again, to increase the expectations. We also want to learn how to be competitive with every game and understand that competition is healthy. Our long term goals are definitely to have success, spread out in all of our sports, not just in the sports teams that have been particularly successful in the past. We are really looking towards becoming “Triple Threat” at Beaver: success in the academics, arts, and athletics.


EB: What drew you into athletics professionally? Who were your early influences?

Coach Levin: If I wasn’t coaching or running a camp, I was a guest speaker. I always wanted to be on television, which I was later on in my life. While I was in the television field, I was traveling. When my daughter was born, traveling became harder, which drew me towards coaching. I enjoyed making differences in young peoples’ lives, such as coaches inspired me as a student-athlete. Sports were and still are a part of me, and I would have to say my main influence in basketball was the head women’s basketball coach at Holy Cross, Togo Palazzi. I get a lot of my coaching techniques from the way that he used to coach me, and I’ve realized that as he has inspired me, inspiring others has become just as important.

EB: When you played basketball, what were the highlights of your career?

Coach Levin: As an individual player, scoring 2, 253 points at Holy Cross was my biggest highlight. Another individual highlight was scoring 1,150 points at Newton North High School because I was the first person to do that. I was also the first to receive a full athletic scholarship to Holy Cross. Looking back, it couldn’t have been possible without my coaches and my inspiration. As a team, the biggest highlights were beating our biggest rivals like Boston College, and in general, just the satisfying feeling that I had actually been part of the transition in improving the basketball program at HC. As a coach the Worcester Academy Class A championship is the most memorable because of 3 minutes and 12 seconds. We were down by 9 points and came back to win by 5. It was a moment in time that will stick with me for a lifetime.

EB: As a young basketball player, what motivated you to strive to do well?

Coach Levin: Genetics and my parents. Growing up, I wanted to be in the Olympics as a track star. I actually did pretty well in my high school career—I placed in the top 10 at my state championship. But I soon fell in love with basketball and in fact, in 1984, I was invited to try out in Colorado and made it to the top 40. I was satisfied because I knew I had done my best and I had given it my all. Athletics are a part of who I am; most people I know are connected through athletics whether it be coaches, players, teammates, coworkers, etc. I really want to help inspire those kids that need inspiration.

EB: Can you talk a little bit about your professional experiences up to this point? How will these experiences help you be successful at Beaver?

Coach Levin: I have been fortunate to have had many exciting careers that shape who I am today as a person. I was a sports reporter on television for many years. I worked on the PGA Tour as a TV producer and I traveled a lot. Later on, I started a business with Donna Orender, current president of the WNBA. We had a video production company and worked on the PGA and LPGA Tour for a while. I also owned my own video production company and I ran a lot of basketball camps around the area. Not long after that, Worcester Academy came along and I worked in the development office there, while I coached the girl’s varsity basketball team. Working at Worcester Academy led me to become the newly appointed Athletics Director at BCDS. I would say that all of these experiences have been incredible. It was particularly interesting to see everything what the players don’t see, “behind-the-scenes” if you will. As a player, I was so used to focusing on what was right in front of me but when I went behind-the-scenes, I learned about the video production, finances, and everything else that goes into the productions and is put on for the public. I also learned how hard people had worked for me when I was a player!

EB: What advice would you give to student athletes at Beaver?

Coach Levin: Do your best. Give it everything you have when you are out on the courts, fields, golf course, classroom or stage, etc. No one ever said it was easy to maintain success, but it’s the attitude—the little things that make the difference. Most importantly, have fun. You have to know that you can have fun out there, work hard and win all at the same time. Just enjoy it!