Sports. I love ‘em! They played a huge role in my childhood years. At the time, I didn’t pay any attention but looking back I can see the lessons, both good and bad, I’ve learned from sports.

Today’s guest on The Be Ruthless Show brings a different perspective - coaches.

Mitch Lyons traded the courtroom as a trial lawyer advocating for clients from a basketball court for a coach advocating for children. A veteran coach of over two decades, he has been a coach at every type of level where kids play sports; Community and travel teams, AAU for 8 years, boys and girls high school basketball for another 8 years, and for 3 years an assistant coach on a men's D.3 college team.

Since 2000, he has founded and served as president of two Massachusetts nonprofits. GetPsychedSports.org is an educational advocacy group with a mission to advocate for changing the structure of the public school sports team that institutionalizes a power imbalance between coach and student. He also founded and served as president for the Social Emotional Learning Alliance for Massachusetts, an educational advocacy group of over 4000 members, dedicated to advancing the teaching of social and emotional skills in all settings. Made-up of largely teachers and school based mental health professionals, this organization is now being mirrored in 22 states.

Mr. Lyons has been married to his wife, Joanne, for 52 years and still doesn't know why she has put up with him for that long. He was lucky enough to play full-court basketball until he was 65. Both his daughter and son were point guards and captains of their respective high school teams. His daughter had an emotionally abusive coach, which had Mitch re-imagining what public school sports could actually teach children.