Coach Luey Gilbert

Luial “Coach Luey” Gilbert brings experience, heart, and a strong emphasis on character development to the NEA Wildcats 10U American team. A former high school pitcher and infielder for three years, Coach Luey has spent the past eight years coaching youth baseball in both recreational and travel settings, with additional experience assisting at the high school level. His coaching background also spans more than a decade across multiple sports, including high school volleyball, basketball, and softball, as well as middle school volleyball.

Coach Luey is SafeSport and First Aid/CPR certified and believes that the mental side of the game is just as important as the physical. While teaching fundamentals and the X’s and O’s is essential, his focus extends to helping players grow as people—building respect for themselves and others, learning perseverance, managing frustration, and maintaining a positive mindset.

What Coach Luey enjoys most is watching teammates form real connections and seeing the joy on a player’s face after a first hit, a big catch, or a strikeout. He meets players where they are, supports them in a positive way, and expects honest effort each day as they work to get better.

He leads by example in how he runs drills, communicates, and handles adversity—believing that respect, composure, and positivity are learned as much through observation as instruction. One of his proudest moments came not from a championship win, but from a tough extra-inning championship loss where his players handled disappointment with class—applauding the opposing team and showing respect to the umpires despite a controversial ending.

Off the field, Coach Luey has been a high school teacher for 24 years and enjoys spending time with his family, playing slo-pitch softball, and cheering on all Boston sports teams. Fun fact: his name “Luial” is a combination of his grandfathers’ names—Luigi and Alcide—but he’ll happily answer to Coach Luey.