James Tobin, left, talks to James Wilson during a Hollis/Brookline game earlier this summer.
James Tobin is no stranger to summer-time boys basketball.
The Hollis/Brookline High School graduate played in his share of BST games during his high school career, but this summer, he’s experiencing something different.
Tobin, who is heading into his junior year at Colby-Sawyer College, is learning the game from a new perspective, as a coach.
As a sports management and business student, Tobin is required to partake in two internships in college, one small and one large. Having helped H/B coach Mike Soucy with summer basketball camps in the past, Tobin asked his former coach if it would be possible to assist him during the summer league.
“I asked him if there was any chance it could be an internship possibility,” Tobin said. “I needed 120 hours. If he could make it serious, that’s fine. If not, I understand, it’s a lot to ask of him.
“He sent a four-page transcript of what I would be doing. My official title is assistant director of operations at the high school, so that’s actually my employer. He’s really helped me out.”
Soucy was more than happy to find something for Tobin to do.
“James is doing an awesome job for me,” he said. “I was psyched. One of the things that’s hard for me is, I’ve got great people around me during the season. Once the season is over, (the other coaches) are not around to help me. Now, I have to be here anyways, but I don’t have the stress of having to coach them and organize them and everything all the time.”
While coaching has given Tobin a different perspective – one he expects to help him on the court for Colby-Sawyer next season – it’s allowed Soucy to watch the games in a way he doesn’t normally experience.
“It allows me to sit back and watch,” Soucy said. “You see things differently from the stands than when you’re watching from the bench. You can see more because you’re not having to manage minutes or substitutions or game strategy. It’s good for the kids to hear a different voice. Even though James is going to tell them the same things that I tell them, he’s going to say it differently and it’s a different voice.”
But no matter how much it benefits the coaches and the players, Tobin knows Soucy would rather be on his side of the court than in the bleachers.
“Part of it makes him crazy because he can’t be stomping on the sidelines and yelling as they come off the court,” Tobin said. “The good thing is he can just look at it from the side and not as the coach. He can take everything in and not be caught up in the moment.
“It’s so much different watching it. I remember playing in this gym, in this league, getting coached by (Soucy) and now I’m yelling at my players about the same things he used to yell at me about.”
Tobin hopes what he learns from coaching will pay off in his own game. A year ago, Colby-Sawyer advanced to the semifinals of The Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament, and the Chargers return all but three players.
“I think it will help me notice what I’m doing wrong fundamentally,” Tobin said. “If I see something out there, any execution thing, I can relate it to myself.”
H/B has three more weeks of games, including Monday’s matchup against Milford, until the BST playoffs.