Hogan seeks to curb violence in Lynn

Fred Hogan?s supposed to be retired from coaching … but you?d never know it.This summer, Hogan?s been everywhere … running the Parks and Recreation League basketball program, assisting his friend Simmie Anderson in the annual “Shoe City Classic,” and his latest endeavor, which has less to do with basketball and everything to do with preserving lives in Lynn.Toward that end, he has helped organize a “Stop the Violence in Lynn” rally to be held a week from tonight (Aug. 14) at the Fecteau-Leary school on South Common Street.?In the course of the last few years,” says Hogan, whose girls basketball coaching career at Lynn English culminated in March with an MIAA North Division 1 championship, “more and more kids we know personally — that have been involved in sports, or just within the neighborhoods — have either died from violence or been affected by it.?A couple of kids I?ve coached — one that I was really close with — was the victim of a violent crime. It really hit home.”Also on the committee are Ward 6 councilor Peter Capano, Lynn School Committeeman John Ford, Lynn schools employee Rob Smith, former Lynn Tech girls basketball player Ebony White, and Antonio Gutierrez, a former gang member who is now an outreach worker in the city.?Myself and John, we live in neighborhoods where there can be problems,” said Hogan, who lives in Ward 6. “We haven?t had too many meetings, but we?ve decided to do more things to get the community involved in the effort.?It seems as if everyone who lives in Lynn knows someone who?s been affected by violence,” Hogan said. “If we can just help a couple of kids, it?s worth it. We can make a difference. We know we?re not going to save the world, but we can try to do what we can.”Hogan has been doing what he can since teaming up with former Tech basketball coach Jim Ridley to organize the Parks and Rec league 20 years ago. When Ridley stepped down, Hogan partnered with Jeff Byrd to keep it going.During that span, Hogan organized a Friday night league at Fecteau-Leary (which The Item helped sponsor) and the Hoganzbasketball tournament every August.?I had to give that up,” he said, “but I still help (Simmie) with logistics and stuff like that. He does 98 percent of the work.”He did all of this for the past nine years while doubling as the girls basketball coach and assistant football coach at English. During that time, he built a juggernaut that, in 2013-14, went through the regular season unblemished and kept the run up until it got to TD Garden in March, where it fell to Braintree in the Division 1 state semifinal for its first loss of the season.After the game, Hogan stunned the city by announcing his resignation. But, he says, he?d already told his players two weeks previous to that when the tournament began.?They knew,” he said, “and I have to give them credit. They kept it quiet. Nobody but them knew about it.”Hogan said it was just a question of whether to exit with the four players who were graduating — Catherine Stinson, Diondra Woumn, Deidra Newson and Mikayla Everette — or keep going.?I chose to go out with them,” he said. “I told them win or lose, no matter how far we got, or if we went all the way, when we left the court for the last time, we were all leaving together.”