The Coach Who Keeps Showing Up

For more than 25 years, Coach Jeff Sousa has helped PLUS Pride athletes build skills, confidence and friendships that extend far beyond the court or field.

September 1, 2026

Ask Jeff Sousa what he has done for Special Olympics New Hampshire over the past 25-plus years, and he would probably downplay it.

He has coached basketball, softball, soccer, volleyball and floor hockey. He has represented New Hampshire as a coach at six Special Olympics USA Games. He has recruited volunteers, welcomed new coaches and helped PLUS Pride grow from a developing program into the community it is today.

But those accomplishments only begin to tell the story.

Jeff’s impact can be found in the athletes who discovered they were capable of more than they realized. In the volunteers who came for a season and stayed for years. In friendships that started on a basketball court or softball field and continued long after the final whistle.

And, perhaps most of all, it can be found in the fact that after more than 25 years, Coach Jeff still shows up.

A Born Coach

Jeff’s introduction to Special Olympics came through his wife, Shawna Sousa, when she began working at The PLUS Company.

At the time, the PLUS Pride local program was primarily focused on SONH’s State Winter and Summer Games. When the opportunity came to expand into additional sports, softball was among the first, followed by basketball.

Jeff jumped in.

He had already been coaching since shortly after high school and would later coach his daughter, Cori, in basketball and softball throughout her childhood.

“He is a natural people person,” Shawna said. “Honestly, he is a born coach.”

As PLUS Pride grew, Jeff grew with it. One team became multiple teams as athletes with different experience and skill levels joined the program. Jeff eventually coached five sports and became a steady presence through decades of practices, competitions and changing seasons.

There have even been a few times when Jeff has suggested that maybe it was time to retire from coaching.

Then the next season arrives.

And so does Jeff.

“I think he just has a hard time walking away when he knows the athletes are counting on him,” Shawna said. “He genuinely enjoys being with them, and I think they know how much he cares.”

Coaching the Person, Not Just the Player

Jeff expects his athletes to compete.

He wants them to learn the game, work hard, trust their teammates and take pride in what they accomplish. But the lessons he teaches have never stopped at the boundaries of a court or field.

Leni Hodgins of PLUS Pride has watched Jeff work with athletes through victories, frustrations and everything in between.

When an athlete becomes frustrated or overwhelmed, she has noticed a familiar Coach Jeff habit. He kneels down so they can talk eye to eye, often placing a hand on their shoulder.

He listens.

He doesn’t rush them or talk over them. Then, when they’re ready, he helps them find the confidence to try again.

“He doesn’t just coach, he inspires,” Leni said. “He is a mentor, a steady presence, and someone our athletes can trust.”

Trevor Lavalla is one of those athletes.

Jeff recognized leadership potential in Trevor before Trevor necessarily recognized it himself. Over the years, Trevor grew from a strong competitor into a mentor and role model for his teammates, even stepping in to coach when he felt ready to take on more responsibility.

Sean Corcoran experienced his own transformation. Years of coaching, encouragement and support helped Sean develop his athletic skills as well as his confidence and self-control. He worked his way onto PLUS Pride’s “A team,” while also learning how to compete fiercely, value teamwork and handle both wins and losses with pride.

Those individual relationships are what make Jeff’s influence difficult to measure.

Sometimes, though, you get a glimpse.

Several years ago at a basketball Area Games competition, an athlete from another local program repeatedly wandered toward the PLUS Pride bench. He had been watching Jeff interact with his athletes, encouraging them, joking with them and coaching them.

After the game, he approached Jeff with a question:

“Coach, can I be on your team?”

Finding Direction Through a Team

For PLUS Pride athlete Ben Langlois, Jeff’s influence came during an important time in his life.

Jeff was one of Ben’s coaches when his basketball team went to the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games and won gold.

The medal remains part of an unforgettable experience. What Jeff helped Ben develop along the way has lasted even longer.

“He helped really shape my leadership skills.” Ben said. “He helped me in a time where I didn’t really have real direction in my life.”

Today, Ben continues to challenge himself and step into new roles, from co-emceeing Opening Ceremonies at the 2026 State Summer Games to taking on an entirely new challenge through running. In 2025, he completed his first Boston Marathon and now competes professionally in the T20 classification through the Boston Athletic Association, while also helping raise funds for SONH as part of the SONH Runs Boston team.

To Ben, the coach who helped him along that path is also simply “a very good man and a great guy to be around.”

That distinction matters.

Jeff gets to know the people wearing the uniforms.

He hears what’s happening in their lives. He celebrates their successes. He stays beside them when things don’t go according to plan. And some of the relationships he has built have grown well beyond sports.

Jeff and longtime athlete Charlie have made a tradition of attending concerts together, including, in their younger days, shows featuring mosh pits that occasionally required Jeff to retrieve Charlie from the crowd.

Jeff and Trevor regularly go to dinner and text to catch up.

“They have developed friendships,” Shawna said. “Those relationships have grown well beyond coaching.”

A Family Built Around Sport

Spend enough time around Coach Jeff and apparently there is a good chance you’ll end up volunteering, too.

Special Olympics became woven into the Sousa family over the years. Shawna has been deeply involved. Their daughter Cori grew up playing sports herself and naturally became involved as a Unified partner. Other relatives, Cori’s husband, family friends and their children have all joined in at different points.

Jeff has brought countless other coaches and volunteers into the program as well.

“When new volunteers arrive, Jeff is usually the first person to welcome them and show them the ropes,” Leni said.

But he isn’t giving them a lecture on how to be a good Special Olympics volunteer.

He shows them.

They watch how he listens. How he encourages. How he challenges athletes without talking down to them. How humor can turn a correction into a lesson. How every athlete deserves to be taken seriously as a competitor and respected as a person.

Then, often, those volunteers keep coming back, too.

“Our family’s participation in PLUS Pride has strengthened our belief that everyone should be treated with the same respect and that every person brings something valuable to the game and to the team,” Shawna said.

The Legacy of Showing Up

Twenty-five years contains a lot of practices.

A lot of games. A lot of wins and losses. A lot of athletes, volunteers, road trips, inside jokes, pep talks and seasons that begin with a familiar face walking back into the gym.

Jeff has been proud to coach six USA Games teams, but Shawna says he takes just as much pride in his PLUS Pride teams, regardless of what color medal they bring home.

His legacy isn’t one competition or championship.

It’s Trevor becoming a leader.

It’s Sean earning his place on a team.

It’s Ben finding direction and developing his own leadership skills.

It’s an athlete from another program watching from across the gym and deciding, simply from seeing Jeff coach, I want to be part of that.

It’s a generation of family members and volunteers who learned from his example and a PLUS Pride community shaped by the belief that athletes deserve to be challenged, encouraged, respected and known.

“I don’t think Jeff really has any idea of the number of lives he has impacted over the years,” Shawna said. “To him, he is just doing what he has always done: showing up, coaching, having fun, and being there for his athletes.”

More than 25 years later, that’s exactly what Coach Jeff is still doing.

And there are a lot of people who are better for it.