Dennis Lobo Returning to Coach at Granby Memorial High

Spring brings with it certain inevitabilities.

The weather begins to heat up, nature begins anew and professional baseball returns for its interminable, epic slog, among other things.

In Granby, spring also means that, with almost metronome-like repetition, Dennis Lobo coaches a track & field team at .

And after taking last spring off, Lobo has decided to return for his 37th season as the head coach of the Granby Memorial girls track & field team.

Lobo took the spring 2011 season off to help care for his wife, RuthAnn, who was battling cancer at the time. , and Dennis, who coached the boys cross country team in the fall, was on the fence as to whether he would return to the track & field team.

Dennis Lobo said that there were several factors for his return, not least of which is the enjoyment he gets in coaching young people.

“I really just love working with the kids,” Dennis Lobo, 70, said. “You work with young people and it keeps you young. It’s structure and it gets you out of the house."

Dennis Lobo said the decision to come back was borne out of several conversations he had with now-assistant girls track & field head coach Wally Hansen as well as school administrators after the cross country season ended.

“I said, ‘Let me think on it,’” Dennis Lobo said in a telephone conversation Saturday.

As the winter wore on, Dennis Lobo decided that he would return, with Hansen as his assistant and Bob Casey as the boys' head coach.

Dennis Lobo said that he has the full support of his three kids - Jason, Rachel and Rebecca.

“They’re pleased because it gives dad something to do,” Dennis Lobo said.

Hansen said that the best indication of how the school community feels about Lobo's return is that kids who were on the fence about coming out for track are signing up after learning of the news.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Hansen said. “It’s awesome. It’s good for him; it’s good for the kids. … Even though he’s a bit older, he connects so well with the kids. He’s fantastic. He’s terrific.”