2 weeks Ago By By Peter Gobis For The Sun Chronicle
Reflecting from across the pond in London, Matt Glebus often refers back to his afternoons spent on the football practice field behind Bishop Feehan High School. “Football was certainly pivotal in developing who I am today,” the 2013 Shamrock graduate said from England, where he has served the past seven years with Swiss Re, a global reinsurance firm. Glebus is one of three members of the Bishop Feehan High football family who will be inducted into the Attleboro Area Football Hall of Fame on Nov.
16 at the Attleboro Elks Lodge. Mark Gaboury (class of ’81) and Chris Paine (class of ’08) will join with Glebus as the representatives from Holcott Drive going into the Football Hall of Fame. The trio will be joined by Pat Dunn (’14), Brenden Massey (’15) and Tim Christensen (’15) from Attleboro High along with Pat Munley (’15), Nick Rajotte (’17) and Tom Reynolds (’17) from North Attleboro High.
The 52nd annual Hall of Fame induction and banquet honors the tradition-rich histories of the football programs at Attleboro High, North Attleboro High and Bishop Feehan High in addition to significant contributors to the game in the community, with this year’s honorary inductee being AHS audio-visual technician Jeff Carr. “Specifically, the Feehan program was led by role models who cared and that passion to win the right way rubbed off on me, shaping me for the next phase in life,” said Glebus, who now swears his “futbol” allegiances to the Arsenal Gunners. “The program ingrained in me lessons that I took to Hamilton College (a 2017 graduate) to ultimately get elected captain and now to how I approach much of work and my life today.
” The sacrifices made for the Shamrock football program are forever ingrained with Glebus after having played both ways for head coach Curt Smith, including serving as a key cog in the Feehan offense at running back. “I still remember those early carpools where I picked up teammates for early-morning weightlifting in the gym before school during the offseason,” Glebus said. “Those lessons of preparation — the physical practices, studying film.
Those lessons of teamwork — understanding an individual’s role in a wider plan to ultimately win. To do your job and do it well by solely focusing on your responsibilities to the best of your ability you position others to do their’s to their best.” Glebus also feels grateful to have played under the guidance of former Bishop Feehan High football coach and athletic director Paul O’Boy.
“Those lessons of facing adversity and mental toughness, you’ll have hard times and bad days and need to manage these emotions,” he said recalling an early-season loss to North Attleboro. “Coach O’Boy said to the team, ‘It’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems. We’ll watch film and learn from it.
’ ” The Shamrock coaching staff at the time — Smith, O’Boy, Fred Pardey and Frank Almeida among others — were more than coaches, they were life teachers. “It was on to preparing for the next week,” said Glebus, a native of Wrentham. “Related to this, you’ll face physical pain and injuries, but it’s how you react to it.
Most of the battle is really on the mental side and staying focused — so football definitely played a role in how I handle stress.” To this day, Glebus still cherishes his memories of the Shamrocks’ MIAA Division 3A Super Bowl win over Lynnfield in 2012 for Bishop Feehan’s 10th victory of the season. “That was one of my biggest recollections, walking out on the field at Gillette Stadium with my fellow captains for the coin toss and then celebrating the victory on the field,” he said.
Upon graduating from Hamilton, Glebus began an 18-month rotational training program for Swiss Re in Armonk, N.Y. He had served an internship with the firm during the summer after his junior year.
Glebus initially lived in the New York City suburb of White Plains for 10 months and then moved into Manhattan as he work from the midtown office. “The graduate program was a tremendous experience,” Glebus said. “It gave me a foundation in understanding the various functions within the reinsurance industry through project work, exams, training classes at the company headquarters in Zurich (Switzerland).
” In time, Glebus served a three-month international rotation to Cape Town, South Africa to support Swiss Re’s clients there. Glebus then built a network of Swiss Re program graduates across the globe, including New York, Hong Kong, London, Zurich, Cape Town, Bangalore, Toronto and Mexico City. His manager was based in London and upon completion of the graduate program, an internal restructure and the world wide pandemic, Glebus relocated there in November, 2020.
Shortlly thereafter, Glebus followed his manager into the Swiss Re division branch, Alternative Capital Partners to lead join the newly formed Life & Health (L&H) Retrocession Structuring team. Glebus serves as a senior structurer on the team, responsible for structuring and project managing retrocession transactions involving ceding Swiss Re’s life and health risks to other external insurers or to the capital markets. “The goal is ensuring the company continues to stay within its global risk limit appetite for life & health risks and optimizing the use of capital supporting these risks.
” Not surprisingly, Glebus and his colleagues often attend Arsenal F.C. matches.
“I enjoy it more than I ever have,” he said. “I’m slowly starting to follow my neighborhood team, Arsenal, but can’t say my fandom is anywhere close to locals.” Glebus, who married Janaina Alves Fontoura in November, 2021, travels through Europe and stays in playing shape by visiting the gym, weight training, running and swimming.
“The lessons of leadership that I’ve learned through football carried over to my career come in different forms,” Glebus said. “That being one-on-one and team-oriented work; the verbal and active roles; leading by example, the importance in recognizing when you need to step up, and in identifying how you can best incentivize the individual or group to buy in to the goal.”.
