Pat Sullivan: 2023 Sportsperson of the Year
The 2023 St. Catharines Sportsperson of the Year has a stunning record of success coaching high school basketball.
Pat Sullivan’s resume includes: 19 Zone, 17 Southern Ontario Secondary School Association championships and 10 Ontario Federation of Secondary School Associations medals (two gold, four silver, four bronze) with the senior boys program at Saint Francis; three Zone and two SOSSA championships with the Phoenix junior girls program; two SOSSA titles with the senior girls program at Denis Morris; and, two SOSSA crowns with the senior boys program at Denis Morris with Kevin McKenna.
It’s an impressive list of accolades but not what Sullivan defines as his legacy.
“With this award, I want it to be because I had an impact and not because of a track record or something like that,” said the 56-year-old St. Catharines native, who retired from a 30-year coaching and teaching career in 2023.
The member of the Brock Badgers national championship squad of 1996 initially started coaching because he loved the sport.
“As I went through it, I really wanted to make an impact on the kids. The more I did it the more I wanted to continue to be involved in young peoples’ lives and basketball was the platform that I had. It was my environment. It could have been something else but that is what I kind of knew and felt natural doing.”
When Sullivan meets a group of people or a person for the first time, the first thing he will tell them is to stop trying to impress everybody and just focus on making an impact.
“We talk about the difference because sometimes they don’t even understand it. I did it because you develop those relationships and you feel that you are making a positive change in that kid’s life and I wanted to continue to do that. I love basketball and I love the sport but it is not my life and it is not what defines me. I just want to see someone be successful in their work or to come back and say, ‘I remember you told me this in a little conversation.’ That is why I am going to keep doing this.”
He believes giving back to one’s community has to be cyclical.
“There has to be people in these young peoples’ lives who are going to help them and guide them through their successes and their failures,” he said. “It does worry me a little bit that we are going to need the next group and what are they going to be teaching these kids.
“I trust that these young people can teach them the skills probably better than I can but are they teaching them the right mindset and are them preparing them for failure or is it just self-promotion. If it is, it is dangerous because the kids and even more so the parents don’t know the difference.”
Sullivan feels his coaching style would rub some people the wrong way in today’s society.
“I wouldn’t be for everybody now because I am authentic. I am not trying to be positive, I am not trying to be negative, I am just trying to be authentic and you need to take that how you take it. I am not trying to knock you down or build you up. This is what I think and the people who know, they know that is what the kids need. We need to be authentic with them and allow them to be authentic as well.”
Being authentic is his No. 1 piece of advice to coaches.
“Their attitude, their work ethic and their values, that is what is going to be the difference in the long run and they have to find a way to make an impact.”
He also has words of wisdom for the players.
“If they (the kids) are trying to impress anybody, they need to impress the coach. They are trying to impress their friends and their buddies who No. 1 don’t really care. They care about themselves because they are too busy.”
High schools kids who are trying to be recruited should be thinking about how what they are doing looks like to a prospective coach and school.
“That’s what is important. If you want to try and impress anybody make sure you are trying to impress the right crowd and the right people.”
Sullivan misses coaching but he is enjoying helping out with the Niagara Ignite program.
“That’s what I like. I don’t miss the games because I kind of used to get sick to my stomach. I never got to the point where I could accept that we were not going to win. It was ‘We have to or I am going to be miserable for two weeks.’ That’s how it was. I got better but never to the point I wanted to get to. I’ve seen other people do that better.”
He felt like Pat Woodburn was a perfect example of that.
“He loved the vibe and he could deal with if it didn’t work. It was ‘OK, I will move on. I am probably going to win the next one.’ I took it really hard and too personally so I don’t miss that.”
He is still around the game and basketball people through Niagara Ignite and by officiating basketball.
“I really enjoy officiating. I appreciate where those coaches are coming from and the kids. I know how important it is and I want to do well for them. I don’t want to make a mistake.”
He clearly doesn’t miss the travel.
“I don’t want the teams because I don’t want to be away as much as I was away. My biggest priority right now is to be a good dad, a good husband and a good person because you can be successful in sports and not be a good person.”
In addition to his basketball activities, Sullivan is keeping busy in retirement by working out in the morning, golfing and supply teaching once or twice a week.
Being Sportsperson of the Year is a big honour for Sullivan.
“It was very surprising when I got the letter. It is not something that is ever on your radar and I still don’t understand the criteria or who votes for it. I am very humble and grateful because I don’t know everyone who has won it but I do remember some people and they’re very impressive people. To be recognized is nice.”
The Sportsperson award is generally given to someone who helped organize a major sporting event in St. Catharines or was a coach or executive on a St. Catharines team that succeeded at the provincial or national level. In years where neither occurs, the committee looks to a person who has made a longstanding contribution to sports in the city.