October 2026 | Page 29

BY TESS LYONS

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The author and her dad after a cross-country meet; Bobby Lyons and his track team after winning the Division One State Championship in 2013; the author and her sister Scout with the football team after a championship; the Lyons family attends Bobby’ s Hall of Fame induction ceremony; Scout and the author hold a championship trophy.

of his dreams. His early days were spent catching tadpoles by the water and playing games with the neighborhood kids until the streetlights came on.

His athletic abilities became obvious in his youth, excelling at every sport he tried his hand at, especially football and track. In high school, he set records that stand to this day. Family responsibilities and that Townie mindset kept him from attending any of the free-ride offers he received from top universities, opting instead to stay close to home and attend Rhode Island College.

There, he was encouraged to specialize in special education. He’ s been teaching at Riverside Middle School, his alma mater, for decades.

So when I finished elementary school, I went there instead of the middle school

“ My dad was born to coach. If one of the boys needed a place to crash when home life became too much, they were in our guest room. If they were slipping up at school, my dad would stay late to help them with their homework. His boys were his kids, and that meant they were our brothers.”

all the other kids in town were attending. I arrived with zero friends and not knowing a single student.

My dad came to lunch with me every day and his co-workers ensured I never sat alone. His students, too, would come to my aid as I sat with my head buried in a book, trying desperately to seem unaware of my

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