A Year of Champions

Megan Williams, Director of Athletics

2019 was an incredible year for School Athletics. Championships at major tournaments were celebrated throughout the year, but as this piece explains, not everything is won on the field of play. Rather, preparation, inspiration, and mindfulness are key elements to sporting success at RHCD.

Resiliency

In the winter of 2019, we welcomed guest speakers to the Upper School who outlined how developing resiliency led them to their Olympic and professional sport dreams.

Athletics embraced many changes in 2019, from team leadership structure, to coaching changes, schedule revisions, and new programming emphasis. How we respond to changes is one of the hallmark ways that we practice our resiliency as studentathletes and coaches.

In the fall preseason, we were joined by a group of former US Navy Seals who put our athletes through their paces in a mixture of physically and mentally challenging exercises. This program, jointly funded by the Boosters and the Terry Coes Innovative Teaching Award, allowed us to bring a heightened level of competitiveness and determination to our preseason.

The spring saw our first annual Student-Athlete Leadership Academy take place over multiple days, where aspiring team leaders got the chance to learn about resolving conflict, creating buy-in, and managing a group of their peers.

Pride

Booster Club membership has jumped by 150% and the Student Booster Club has become the largest student club on campus!

Homecoming and Blue & White Night drew the largest attendance ever, bringing together current students, alumni, families, and faculty for a fun-filled two days of Mariner pride.