Ron Spinney Deserves All-Time Recognition

We’re so excited that Winthrop High hoop legend and prominent attorney Chris Tsiotos will have a special ceremony in March when the basketball court at the new Winthrop High School will be named the “Chris Tsiotos Basketball Court.”

We hope that Winthrop school officials will extend a similar honor to former Winthrop High girls basketball coach Ron Spinney, who truly was a pioneer in Winthrop High girls basketball and who recognized the girls’ sport explosion that would arrive following the passage of Title IX. The fact is that Ron Spinney, with the support of former athletic director Jim Evans, another true pioneer for girls’ athletics, opened the door for so many Winthrop High School athletes to compete in sports and excel.

Ron Spinney’s excellence as a coach extended to multiple sports. His girls basketball teams won an amazing 402 games in 29 seasons his softball squads tallied 201 wins and captured the state title in 1984.

There were so many great female athletes whom Ron coached, but for today we’ll mention two legends named Lisa — Lisa Monteleone Ferrara, who went on to greatness in basketball at Bentley University, and Lisa Gill Howard, who played Division 1 college softball at Boston College. And we’ll also add in a Maureen, as in Maureen McManus, who led the WHS girls to an EMass title in the early 1980s and then went on to a Hall of Fame career at Division 1 Lafayette.

Ron Spinney also was an outstanding teacher in the Winthrop school system. It would be fitting in many respects for Winthrop to honor his contributions with special recognition — perhaps the respective home and visiting coaching chairs should be named the “Ron Spinney Coaching Chairs” or the “Ron Spinney Scorer’s Table” so everyone who enters the gym will be aware that Mr. Spinney made a tremendous impact on the lives of more than a full generation of Winthrop High student-athletes.