Great Sports
Source/Author: Mike Murphy, Headmaster
October 19, 2018
The unthinkable happened. The senior class did not win Homecoming Class Competition day.
With the grace of champions, the seniors applauded the victors - the juniors. Unless one understands the importance of winning Homecoming at Shorecrest, this might seem to be a minor event. There are alumni and experienced members of the faculty who realize the loss followed by the response of the senior class is very, very unique and a great demonstration of class.
The fall athletic season has been wonderful for our Middle School, JV and Varsity athletes. If one follows Ebytes or our website, one can see that our sailors are consistently in the top 3 of the southeastern and island teams with whom they compete. At the recent Cross Country City Meet, every varsity and JV runner had a personal best time. Volleyball began tournament play this week and is ranked to advance. For the first time in years, our Varsity football Chargers have advanced to playoff games. The Middle School football team has maintained high spirits and should be great contributors when they advance into the Varsity program. Golfers have won Districts and qualified for Regionals. Our top divers are excelling and both boys and girls swim teams have been highly competitive. And last, but certainly not least, our Cheerleaders have demonstrated incredible athletic and artistic skills while leading our community in support of our teams.
Our new Athletic Director, Anthony McCall, has initiated some wonderful new programs to highlight senior athletes and all teams. He has already become an ever-present leader throughout our community.
One of the ways I have learned to judge our athletic program is how our student-athletes relate to younger students and to the greater school community. The Experiential School Pep Rally and the Homecoming Pep Rally gave our older students opportunities to connect with our younger students. The Varsity Cheerleaders are idols for our spirited Little Sparks Cheerleaders.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to join six seniors and two alumni, Bob Willis, Jr. ’77 and Jackson Willis ‘15, on a kayak trip from the original Shorecrest campus to our current campus. The seniors represented the swim-dive, football, sailing, soccer, and track programs. The mangroves to the east of our current campus make up an interesting maze of canals. There are no markings to guide travelers to the canal that ultimately leads to our campus. Even with the use of Google Maps and other technological aids, our party took more than one route that ended in a shallow and muddy dead end before finding the path to the canal to campus.
What impressed me most was the flexibility, good spirits and sense of adventure all the students exhibited. From stroke one to the final pull out, they were kind and fun-loving. They are some of our most competitive athletes and at the same time some of the best collaborators imaginable. In short, anyone would want them to be teammates, colleagues and friends.
I am confident these students learned many of these behaviors and lessons from their families. At the same time, I want to thank the teachers and coaches who have clearly modeled and taught these student-athletes how to be winners.
Cheers,
Mike
