New Athletics Director Has High Aspirations for Portsmouth Sports

There is a somewhat-new captain at the helm and steering the Portsmouth High sports programs this year.

Steve Trezvant, 35, a cross-country and track and field coach for the Patriots for 10 years and interim Director of Athletics during the spring 2011 season, has been appointed the school’s full-time Director of Athletics for the 2011-12 academic year. He replaces Michael Lunney, who resigned to accept the position of Assistant Director of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League earlier this year after serving as Portsmouth’s Director of Athletics for 16 years.

“Over the last 10 years, I have fallen in love with this place (Portsmouth High) and with its faculty, staff, personnel and students,” said Trezvant during an interview at his school office. At this stage of my life, I could not think of myself doing anything else.”

At Portsmouth, Trezvant oversees an annual budget of approximately $300,000, which subsidizes 26 varsity sports programs and numerous sub-varsity (junior varsity and freshmen) teams. He is growing more comfortable day-by-day with his responsibilities as Director of Athletics after experiencing a bumpy transition last spring.

“I expected that this job would be a challenge, but it has turned out to be a lot more than a challenge,” Trezvant said. “There are so many procedural issues to resolve, but it has also been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

Trezvant beat out several other candidates for the interim position in March, then was appointed as full-time Director of Athletics by the Portsmouth School Committee in June. He said his performance as interim director apparently satisfied school administrators to recommend him as the full-time selection.

“If I wasn’t doing the job well, I don’t think they would have considered me as the full-time replacement,” Trezvant said.

Trezvant is certainly no stranger to Portsmouth. He graduated from Portsmouth High in 1995 after competing in cross-country, track and field and basketball. He moved on to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, where he was a member of its men’s cross-country and track and field programs and where he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1999.

Trezvant returned to Rhode Island after graduating from college, worked for the Volunteers In Newport Education (a branch of AmeriCorps) and then became a personal trainer as his coaching career with the Patriots was launched. His Portsmouth teams captured two Class championships and were championship contenders throughout his decade of coaching.

No longer a coach with the Patriots, Trezvant said he is totally focused on administering to the needs of all sports teams, coaches and participants at the school.

“Almost one-half of our student population participates in sports and that’s a very high percentage,” he said. “Our athletic program has great support from the administration, faculty, student body and community and everyone has been supportive of me.”

Trezvant expressed special gratitude to Lunney, his predecessor.

“It was a great loss for this school when Mike took the job with the RIIL because he impacted the lives of so many students here for so many years,” Trezvant said. “From the first day I took over, Mike reminded me that he is just a telephone call away if I need help with anything and I’ve taken him up on his offer. He wants me to experience as much success as he did here.”

Trezvant said he considers athletics to be an “integral part” of students’ high school experiences.

“Through sports, our students can develop a sense of confidence and achievement and learn so much,” he said. “In sports, they have the opportunity to succeed and the opportunity to fail every day. When they fail, they have the opportunity to learn from the experience and to come back stronger from it.”

Trezvant said he is working on several long-term goals, including upgrading existing practice and game facilities at the school; urging coaches to recommend to their athletes that they play other sports; and giving student-athletes a voice in influencing school policies, while also stressing unity and school spirit.

“I want every student-athlete here to understand what it means to be a Portsmouth Patriot,” Trezvant said. “I want them to help each other and to help them make good decisions.”

When he steps down as Director of Athletics at some point in the future, Trezvant said he hopes to be remembered as a caring and concerned individual.

“I want people to remember me as an individual who tried his absolute best to help others and who always listened to the concerns of others,” he said. “I want the student-athletes here to say that I had an impact on their lives and changed their lives for the better.”