Faculty Friday Spotlight: Mr. Jamie O’Leary

Happy Faculty Friday! With spring sports getting started on Monday, there has never been a better time to profile our Athletic Director, Mr. Jamie O’Leary! As the AD at Saint Joseph Prep, Mr. O’Leary is in charge of all logistics for athletics, including scheduling, hiring coaches, taking care of equipment and facilities, distributing athletic awards, and ensuring SJP is compliant with all MIAA rules. He also spent this past winter season as a co-coach for the Boys’ Hockey team.

Growing up in nearby Needham, MA, Mr. O’Leary was exposed to many sports at a young age; he played soccer, hockey, tennis, golf, and baseball. While he was always a well-rounded athlete, his favorite sport was hockey. He played throughout high school at St. Sebastian’s School and spent a post-graduate year at a prep school in Lake Placid, NY to hone his hockey skills before making the jump to college hockey. After his PG year, Mr. O’Leary attended Boston College where he majored in Communications and played Division 1 hockey. In his last year at BC, he was signed by the minor league affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. After a few years with that franchise, he moved to the New York Islanders, where he also played in the minors.

After six years of professional hockey, Mr. O’Leary decided to settle down and take a job in technology software sales. Although he worked in the industry for ten years, he knew it wasn’t his passion. Returning to the sport he loves, he took a job as an assistant hockey coach at Wellesley High School. Spending time with that team helped him realize how much he enjoyed coaching and working with high school students. So that he could continue to coach, helping young people develop as student-athletes, he pursued a Master’s in Athletic Administration from Endicott College.

Shortly after completing his degree, Mr. O’Leary was hired to lead the Athletic Department at Saint Joseph Prep. His favorite part of SJP is “the energy in the building.” When he started here two years ago, he was impressed by how active and engaged everyone was which created a special setting and atmosphere he had not experienced at the other high schools where he’d worked.

When Mr. O’Leary isn’t helping students in the gym or on the ice, he is at home with his wife and two kids, six-year-old Rowen and four-year-old Brenna. He coaches their athletic teams and enjoys seeing his kids grow in their sports. He also enjoys playing in a mens’ hockey league with some friends and going out on his boat in the summer with family.

Thank you, Mr. O’Leary for helping our Athletics program grow into what it is today! We are excited to cheer on all of the spring sports starting next week! Go Phoenix!