Veteran Coach Carey Selected to Address Olympic Coaches

Over his 45-year career as a varsity baseball coach, Frank Carey has given plenty of speeches. On Friday, however, he’ll be speaking in front of a different kind of crowd.

The North Reading High School coach was selected to address the United States Olympic coaches in Colorado Springs as a part of the National Coaching Conference. Carey will give a brief speech on behalf of male high school coaches across the country after having been named Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 2012.

“When I was asked to do it, I thought ‘What the heck do you say to Olympic coaches that will be inspiring and motivating?’,” said Carey. “I don’t think anything I’ll say will motivate an Olympic coach. But the message I want to get across is that wearing ‘USA’ on the front of your jersey is the greatest inspiration you can get. I’m also going to talk about some of the commonalities between a high school coach and an Olympic coach, and some of the values you want to get across to your athletes.”

Carey earned his 700^th career victory this season, and led the Hornets to a Division 3 state championship in 2012. When he earned national Coach of the Year honors last season, his name went into the running to be selected as the speaker at Friday’s event along with the other winners.

The veteran coach wasn’t just picked out of a hat. A selection committee chose Carey, and soon he was informed that he would be flown to Colorado for the three-minute speech.

“I was quite overwhelmed by the whole thing,” said Carey. “I was taken aback.”

Of all the coaches who could be attendance, there is one that Carey is hoping will be in Colorado. The longtime mentor said he’s hoping to see former Lynn resident Jimmy Pedro, who coaches judo in the Olympics.

Pedro attended Carey’s baseball clinic as a child, and the North Reading coach said he hasn’t seen Pedro since.

As far as his own North Reading coaching career, there is no news on the horizon, according to Carey. But that doesn’t mean retirement isn’t on his mind.

“I’m telling people that we are down to the bottom of the ninth in my coaching career,” said Carey. “This is the first time in my coaching career that I’ve ever given thought to retiring. But right now, I am not leaning towards that.”