By Coach J. Barry Dwyer
An old saying that coaches have long invoked to motivate their athletes holds particular truth: the fight within matters more than the fighter’s size. No runner I ever trained embodied this principle more fully than Kenny Botticelli, an exceptional athlete whom I had the honor of coaching throughout three seasons of Chelsea High School Cross Country in 1972. When Kenny first joined the team, his stature was approximately 5 foot 4 inches. He graduated in 1974 at essentially the same height, yet his growth in leadership and maturity during those intervening years was unmistakable.
Kenny was “small” as compared to the average distance runner, but his work ethic was as big as anyone on my hardworking cross country teams. For most newcomers, their initial workout was a simple but daunting 5 mile run. The only message I gave the kids was that I did not care how long it took to them to finish as long as they “ran” the entire distance. If you are not used to running and you start off with two or three days of 5 or 6 mile runs, you are going to feel a little fatigued and sore after a few days. Kenny was no exception and literally dragged himself up his homes staircase after practice. His mother noticed this and became concerned. She told Kenny she was going to talk to me about what was I trying to do to her son. Kenny begged her not to interfere and assured his Mom that he would be fine. Mrs. Botticelli told me this story a few weeks after Kenny had been on the team but she also pointed out how Kenny took to the hard work like a “duck” does to water. She told me that over time, she noticed him “flying” up the stairs. I laughed and told her it was called “getting in shape.” When I first volunteered to take over coaching Chelsea’s cross country program after the sudden resignation of my old coach Bernard Berenson, there were not too many hold over athletes from the previous year. I knew the upcoming challenges would be large. I remember one of the signs I made up to try to “recruit” kids to come out for the team which read as follows: “You don’t have to be big or fast, all you have to be is someone who believes in the system, is willing to do the work and you will be successful.”