Always the Coach – Steve Sobel

By Seth Stutman | Photos by Hillary Lynn Photography

Published in Longmeadow Neighbors (March 2025)

A sports coach, a school principal, a sought-after speaker, a comedy writer—Dr. Steve Sobel could more easily list the careers he hasn’t had or the people he doesn't know in basketball. However, seated at Longmeadow’s coffee shop, Sobel is unassuming and just excited to enjoy conversation in a coffee shop that functions as his extended living room.

“Life takes its share of twists and turns—if I’m ever not feeling the energy, I can still find great places in town to get out to,” Steve says, taking in his surroundings. “There’s a number of friends I still have in Longmeadow, and we can always grab a couple of coffees and catch up.”

Life’s twists and turns brought Sobel to Longmeadow in the 1980s. After growing up in Long Island, Sobel lived in New York City for a few years. Sobel left the Bronx in his beat-up Volkswagen on a quest for community, armed with an MS in Special Education from Hofstra. He found himself in Durham, CT, where he worked in special education while earning his certificate in school administration. From there, he became a principal but always remembered the importance of his work in special needs—and the joy he saw on the faces of others teaching at-risk youth.

“Teachers make such a HUGE difference in the lives of their students,” Sobel said. “Even as a sub [at Birchland Park Middle School in East Longmeadow], I love watching teachers there because they all show extreme loving ownership of their classes. So much of the success of students has to do with the feeling that the student gets from the teacher.”

“Teachers [and coaches] are difference makers. We make students feel good about themselves. They’re going to get stressed out—and that’s all part of the process! You never know what’s going on at home, and you’re going to see them for one year, and you’ll always wonder about how they turn out!”

Sobel ascended into the role of principal by age 26 and began at Stonegate in Durham, CT, a school for students experiencing behavioral issues. When Sobel moved to the Pioneer Valley, he took over as the principal at the Children’s Study Home (Kathleen Thornton School). As he grew, Sobel realized that special needs education was his calling, so he became the District Director of Special Education for Hadley Public Schools, a title he enjoyed for the better part of a half-decade before his life took yet another turn.

Sobel isn’t just a classroom teacher; he’s a teacher on the basketball court, where he has coached for five decades.

“Interwoven in everything I've done is coaching and athletics. As a kid, I’d go every weekend to Madison Square Garden with my dad to see a college game. I started coaching basketball when I was a teacher in New York City … I lived in the Bronx, and around the corner was a community center, and I went over there asking if they had anything open for coaching, so I began my career at the Bronx House. I was strongly influenced by my summer basketball camp counselor, the late Jim Valvano (Jimmy V), for his sense of humor as well as his coaching abilities—he was tremendous.”

When Sobel came to Springfield, he quickly resumed coaching. “Before my kids were born, I was coaching the Springfield JCC youth team. I also had the honor of being the Maccabi coach in the early 2000s, where we won a bronze medal at a local showcase.”

Sobel has coached a variety of teams for decades in competitive outdoor leagues since the 1980s in the birthplace of basketball. For the past 20 years, he has been the coach of the Springfield Slamm Basketball Club. Sobel has coached, to name a few NBA players, Tremont Waters, Jeremy Lamb, Travis Best, Gary Forbes, and others, but for him, it’s been about developing relationships and a competitive spirit. Sobel was also invited to speak to youth at the Basketball Hall of Fame and many youth sports banquets, basketball camps, and clinics.

“The highlight of my coaching career is coaching in the annual summer men's basketball pro-am—I’ve been coaching since 1984—this year [2024], we competed in the Greater Hartford pro-am—we won the championship, and I tell EVERYBODY about it—and we lost only one game!”

Sobel has two children, both of whom he coached when they played sports in town. Ethan is the Managing Director of Hillel at Boston University, one of the oldest chapters in the country. Ethan was an accomplished cello player, a great student, and a hockey player. Nicole is a salesperson for a large liquor company and a violin player who has played at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

“Longmeadow is an exceptional place to raise kids,” Steve said. “It’s competitive athletically and academically. The town is also interested in helping kids round out their lives with friends and relationships. There’s a lot of opportunities for kids here if parents are aware of it—I LOVED coaching Little League!”

In his time coaching basketball in town, Sobel had the pleasure of coaching hundreds of student-athletes as a volunteer shooting coach. He lists Kevin Freeman, who won the 1999 championship at UConn, and Patrick Donnelley as the two most talented LHS athletes he ever coached.

As if the teaching and the coaching weren’t enough, Steve Sobel tapped into his innate gift of connecting with people for his next act. His positive outlook, sense of humor, and desire to enact change helped to launch Steve’s career as a motivational speaker.

Sobel began his speaking career at nonprofits and school systems, working with teams and individuals based on improving performance. In 1999, Harvard called Sobel to speak about customer service, and as payment, Sobel agreed with the hockey team to allow his son, then 8 years old, to skate with them. Some of the players he mentored at Harvard advanced to professional careers, including NHL veteran Craig Adams. From there, he began speaking to the Harvard hockey team and quickly, Sobel’s schedule began to fill with engagements with college and professional hockey teams, at colleges like Notre Dame, and at massive companies like Pfizer, GE, and MassMutual.

Sobel’s career is dotted with impressive speaking appearances. He was a guest speaker for the Top 100 Athletes on Super Bowl Weekend at the University of Notre Dame, where he spoke with coaches and students about team building. Additionally, he was the main commencement speaker at Western New England in 1994, a tremendous honor for a part-time instructor.

Steve’s The Good Times Handbook is the written culmination of his speaking work. In his words, it’s a guide to positive living and enjoying an exciting life—which formed the basis for much of his speaking work.

“People always ask me how I can do what I do. It’s a gift. You’ve got to have the gift. I've always been appreciative of what I’ve got, and as a result, I’m all about gratitude. Life is all about gratitude and appreciation and trying to live in the moment.”

Steve credits his friends, his background in education, and his family for the career and livelihood he has carved out.

“My father was a big influence of mine,” said Steve. “He was a stockbroker who became an incredible watercolor painter… and he was always my coach. What goes around comes around, and your influences help you become who you are.”

Dr. Sobel and I sip coffee at the Longmeadow Shoppes, enjoying the simple joy and spark of conversation while patrons pass by, many of whom we know and greet. A coach, father, educator, and speaker, Steve usually has his own words, but the sentences coming next encapsulate his worldview, optimism, and zest for life perfectly.

“These days, my favorite movie quote is from Tom Hanks in Castaway… his character says, ‘I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?’”

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