MARBLEHEAD — Two of the biggest passions in Tom Roundy’s life are sports and Salem State. They came together for him earlier this week when it was announced that the Marblehead native will be inducted into the Salem State Athletics Hall of Fame. Roundy is one of six members of the Hall of Fame Class of 2018.
Roundy spent 27 years as the university’s first sports information director, from 1982-2009. He also coached baseball alongside former Vikings coach Ken Perrone for six seasons.
“I feel incredibly honored to be elected,” said Roundy, 60. “It’s wonderful. To be recognized by the university as a hall of famer, I loved working there. I feel extremely honored and blessed to be given the opportunity to work at Salem State for almost three decades. I truly loved my job. The workload was tremendous but I embraced it every day.”
Roundy’s path to Salem State started as a temporary gig, and ended as a permanent post. He was hired by former university president Dr. James T. Ansler and former athletic director John Galaris.
“I was brought on board as an emergency hire to work invitational tournaments in 1982,” Roundy said. “I was supposed to work for the weekend, but was hired for the remainder of the school year. After the school year ended they offered me the job full time. I was so happy to be there. I was happy to blaze the trail. There had never been anybody in sports information full-time until I came on.”
Aside from his responsibilities running the school’s sports information department, Roundy also enjoyed his tenure as the university’s assistant baseball coach. He credited Perrone for pushing him to reach his fullest potential.
“Ken Perrone really fueled my work ethic,” Roundy said. “He turned the Salem State baseball program around in 1983. I became very close friends with him and he was awesome. I get emotional talking about it because it was an awesome experience for me.
“I got after it and did the best job I could do. I was an assistant baseball coach for six years. That was something I really enjoyed. Balancing the two was a juggling act. It made for very, very busy days. In sports they play on weekends and nights. Somebody has to be there to record all that. Luckily it was me.”
Roundy was raised in Marblehead by his father, Elliott and his mother, Jane. He found his passion for athletics in following his father’s footsteps.
“My life has been athletics,” Roundy said. “My father was a legendary athletic director and coach at Ipswich High for 32 years. We lived in Marblehead and I was by his side as a little boy. Seeing all the great teams Ipswich had, they were very competitive. The seeds of my athletic career were sown there.”
For Roundy, the Hall of Fame induction brings things full circle. He played a key role in the formation of the school’s athletics Hall of Fame in 1986 when he helped form the first class by researching former athletes. Roundy served on the Hall of Fame Selection Committee as a charter member for 23 years.
“I wanted to do a great job researching the Salem State past,” Roundy said. “I think it’s been terrific over the years. When that night comes, to see the inductees and their families so happy, it was awesome. I presented 10 athletes over the years and it’s dear to my heart. Now, to be one of them, that wasn’t in the cards for me when I was doing all the work. That was my job and the results were great. I’m so humbled and honored to be selected.”
Roundy, who still lives in Marblehead, remains close to athletics through coaching. In addition to a part-time job at Tedesco Country Club, he serves as an assistant varsity boys soccer coach and freshman baseball coach at Marblehead High. He also manages the Marblehead Seasiders of the North Shore Baseball League.
In fact, Roundy has played two games for the Seasiders this season when the team found itself short of players. He manned the right field position in his first games as a player in more than 30 years. Making the appearances even more impressive is that Roundy had the lower half of his right surgically leg removed one year ago after a painful battle with severe frostbite.
Roundy said he’s at 100 percent healthwise as he looks forward to the closing stretch of the NSBL regular season. The Seasiders are in the thick of the hunt for the league’s final two playoff slots.
Roundy will be enshrined into the university’s Hall of Fame on October 12 at the school’s Ellison Campus Center.
“I’m so thrilled that I’m being recognized in this way,” Roundy said. “It’s the ultimate honor to be recognized by the university you worked at in this way. It’s fantastic.”
Joining Roundy in the 2018 class of inductees are Brian Clark (men’s basketball), Lauren Dottin (women’s basketball), Marcy Maglio (women’s soccer), Estrella Kuilan Mitchell (women’s soccer, volleyball) and Thomas Tobey (men’s golf).
In addition to Perrone, Galatis and Amsler others Roundy credited for his success include brothers Eric and Sam, son Danny, longtime girlfriend Kathy LaBrie, Bill Bulloch, Bill O’Neill, Julie Curtis, Michael O’Keefe, Susan Rizzotti-Melanson, Tom Page, Peter Doyle, Tim Shea, George Jacobson and Edward Manning.
