Sonny Foley

American athlete, coach, and official (1901–1981)

Sonny Foley
Biographical details
Born	(1901-10-28)October 28, 1901 Cambridge, Massachusetts
Died	January 26, 1981(1981-01-26) (aged 79) Concord, Massachusetts
Alma mater	Boston College
Playing career
Hockey
1921–25	Boston College
1926–27	Providence Reds
Baseball
1921–25	Boston College
Football
1921	Boston College

Position(s)	Center (hockey) Third baseman (baseball) Quarterback (football)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Baseball
1926–27	Rindge Technical School (Fresh.)
1936–67	Cambridge Latin School
Hockey
1926–27	Rindge Technical School (Fresh.)
1927–36	Rindge Technical School
1927–29	Boston College

James H. "Sonny" Foley (October 28, 1901–January 26, 1981) was an American athlete, coach, and official.

Playing

A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Foley was a standout athlete at Cambridge High and Latin School. At Boston College he spent four years as the Eagles starting third baseman in baseball and center in hockey. He was regarded as one of the best fielding third basemen in BC history and one of the best college hockey players of his generation. He also played quarterback for the Boston College Eagles football team his freshman year.^[1] After graduating in 1925, Foley played hockey for the semi-pro Pere Marquette and the Providence Reds of the Canadian–American Hockey League.^[2]

Coaching

In 1926, Foley was named freshman baseball coach at the Rindge Technical School.^[3] He also coached the school's freshman hockey team. In 1927 he was promoted to head coach of the varsity hockey team.^[4] Later that year, Boston College, which had adopted a policy of hiring graduates to coach their athletic teams, hired Foley to coach the Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey team.^[2] In 1929, Boston College dropped its hockey program due to financial difficulties brought on by the Wall Street Crash. Foley continued to coach hockey at Rindge until 1936, when he became head baseball coach at his alma mater - Cambridge Latin.^[5] He remained at Cambridge Latin for 32 years, retiring after the 1967 season.^[6] Foley also worked for the city of Cambridge as the submaster of the Wellington and Harrington elementary schools.^[7]

Officiating

Foley was a referee in the Canadian–American Hockey League for one year, the Eastern Hockey League for eight years, and for college and high school hockey games for 25 years. He also spent over 20 years as a goal judge at Boston Bruins games.^[7]

Death

Foley died unexpectedly on January 26, 1981, at the age of 79. He was survived by five sisters and a brother.^[7]

References

^ Woodlock, Albert J. (April 8, 1927). "Cambridge Stresses Freshman Baseball". The Boston Daily Globe.
^ ^a ^b "Foley Appointed Boston College Hockey Coach". The Boston Daily Globe. December 1, 1927.
^ "Sonny Foley Coach of Rindge Freshmen". The Boston Daily Globe. April 27, 1926.
^ "Sonny Foley to Coach Rindge Tech in Hockey". The Boston Daily Globe. November 18, 1927.
^ "Foley, Curry Named Cambridge Coaches". The Boston Daily Globe. March 17, 1936.
^ "Testimonial Dinner Set for 'Sonny' Foley". The Boston Globe. January 27, 1968.
^ ^a ^b ^c "James H. Foley, 79, Star Athlete, Coach, Pro Hockey Official". The Boston Globe. January 28, 1981.

Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey

Playing venues

Boston Arena (1917–1958)
McHugh Forum (1958–1987)
Conte Forum (1988–present)

Head coaches

Bob Fowler (1917–1919)
Walter Falvey (1919–1920)
Fred Rocque (1920–1923, 1925–1927)
Charles Foote (1923–1925)
Sonny Foley (1927–1929)
John Kelley (1932–1942, 1946–1972)
John Temple (1942–1943)
Joseph Glavin (1945–1946)
Len Ceglarski (1972–1992)
Steve Cedorchuk (1992–1994)
Jerry York (1994–2022)
Greg Brown (2022–present)

Conference affiliations

ECAC Hockey (1961–1984)
Hockey East (1984–present)

Rivalries

All-time leaders

Statistical leaders
David Emma (239 points)
Brian Gionta (123 goals)
Scott Clemmensen (99 wins)

Retired jerseys

National championships

Frozen Four appearances

Conference Tournament titles

ECAC Hockey: 1965; 1978
Hockey East: 1987; 1990; 1998; 1999; 2001; 2005; 2007; 2008; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2024

Hobey Baker Award

David Emma (1991)
Mike Mottau (2000)
Johnny Gaudreau (2014)

Mike Richter Award

Thatcher Demko (2016)

Tim Taylor Award

Alex Newhook (2020)

Seasons
1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Bold Italics denotes National Championship season

Seasons