St. Mary’s High Coach Bill Carellas, Bill Lamirande, Keira Lamirande, Jack Lamirande. Kim Lamirande, Dorrie Daley and Coach Andy Lussier gather at St. Mary’s High School Feb. 7 where Jack Lamirande signed on to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth soccer team. (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
WESTFIELD – St. Mary’s High School Senior Jack Lamirande officially signed onto the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Men’s Soccer team Feb. 7.
Lamirande will study engineering with plans to become a computer engineer.
Lamirande signed the papers in front of his family, including his father Bill and mother Kim, grandmother Dorrie Daley and sister Keira, as well as teammates and friends gathered at St. Mary’s. Lamirande was joined by five Westfield High School students he has known since kindergarten.
Bill Lamirande is not only Jack Lamirande’s father, he also happens to be one of his coaches. He spoke about his son’s accomplishments from both a parent and a coach’s perspective Friday.
“He was recruited by 10 colleges, including Quinnipiac, Merrimack, Dean and St. Michael’s,” said Bill Lamirande. “He was accepted to all the schools he applied to, but UMass Dartmouth was where his heart was.”
Jack Lamirande zoned in on three schools – UMass, Western New England University and Wentworth Institute of Technology. Bill Lamirande said as a coach, there were other schools offering bigger scholarships, but as a parent, he and his wife wanted their son to consider only schools with good engineering programs in addition to soccer teams.
St. Mary’s High School Senior Jack Lamirande, wearing a UMass Dartmouth Soccer shirt, is surrounded by classmates and friends from Westfield High School Feb. 7 at his signing ceremony to University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
Jack Lamirande said from the moment he walked onto the UMass Dartmouth campus he knew that’s where he belonged.
“There was chemistry,” he said. “When I walked in, it felt like home.”
Jack Lamirande is a three-sport athlete and serves as captain of the St. Mary’s soccer, baseball and basketball teams. He grew up playing both soccer and baseball and has been a star player for St. Mary’s. Bill Lamirande said he is one of the top baseball players in western Massachusetts. Jack Lamirande said he loves all three sports, but soccer rose to the top.
“I started playing when I was three,” he said. “I really started to love it, even more than baseball.”
Part of his decision to attend St. Mary’s High School was the ability to play sports and hone his skills. In a larger school, where 70 students may try out for a team, he may not have been able to get as much play time simply because of seniority.
“Being at a small school helped me stand out,” he said. “But it’s not just about one player, it’s about all the players.”
Bill Lamirande said St. Mary’s coaches can spend time working with both individual players and the entire team. He said that, plus determination, helped Jack Lamirande.
“He scored 130 points in soccer,” Bill Lamirande said. “Most kids strive for 100 and don’t achieve that.”
The UMass Dartmouth soccer coach did something Bill Lamirande said is almost unheard of when he offered Jack Lamirande a spot on the team roster and said there is a strong possibility he would be a starter.
“To not only be offered a spot, but to be told he has a chance to start as a freshman is extremely rare,” Bill Lamirande said.
St. Mary’s Principal Matthew Collins said he is an accomplished students and athlete.
“Watching Jack grow up from age 8 to 18 and seeing him follow his dreams is phenomenal,” Collins said.
