Coach Joe Sousa can best be described as a pioneer in the development of girls track in Cambridge and in the state of Massachusetts. In 1973, when girls athletics began building a program . Just four years later, the program advanced to championship status, winning the first female Suburban Indoor Track Championship for CHLS in 1977, led by Joe and Captain Liz Skeleton. Before retiring, his teams captured 12 Suburban League titles, four state outdoor titles, and two state relay championships. His overall record is an amazing 269 wins and 69 losses. Joe coached champions in his career but never lost sight of the team concept. Every one of “his girls” had something to contribute. His legacy is that every team had representation from every neighborhood in the city, that his student athletes were a blended mixture of social, ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds. Joe always deflects credit for his teams’ success. However, in 1985, after coaching CRLS to its first outdoor All-State Championship, Joe was recognized as “Coach of the Year” by the Boston Globe. The girls had an amazing day scoring 103 points- a new state record. In 1996, Joe was inducted into the Massachusetts State Coaches Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, it was said, “in the early ‘70s if you were involved with coaching girls’ track in any way, you were the witness to the start of something big. Joe Sousa was in such a position.” For 34 years, his teaching career included service at the Fletcher, HarringtonAnd Kennedy Dash Longfellow schools and Kennedy Dash Longfellow schools. Upon retirement from coaching at CRLS, Coach Sousa accepted a challenge. He took over a struggling cross country and track program at MIT, leading the Lady Engineers to aNew England Women’s 8 Conference championship. He was recognized as NEW8 “Coach of the Year” in 1995. Joe became a member of the Massachusetts Trackand Field Officials Association after retirement, relishing the sport he loved.
Inducted: 1996