WINNING AT STONELEIGH-BURNHAM

Thisyear's conversation with Athletic Director Scott Gray covered various topics beyond wins and losses. It was still very much about the success of the program.

If you have the opportunity to witness any of our athletic events, one of the first things you notice is the event's energy. As Mr. Gray said, “I think when you look at the culture of StoneleighBurnham athletics, it tends to be high energy, lots of school spirit enthusiasm. Building those relationships between the upper-level students who may have played a sport for a long time, and new students, new players to the sport, is the foundation of what we do at the school.”

What's the foundation? It's based on mentoring and maintaining relationships across our athletes and classes. Our athletic programs are built on the participation of a high percentage of students. StoneleighBurnham fields athletes range from novice middle school students to the most experienced seniors, unlike a large school with hundreds of students, with only the top-performing athletes ever appearing on the field. Our approach has benefits not experienced in many other programs.

Scott described the StoneleighBurnham athletic experience in the following way. “Our volleyball team, we're more competitive, better skilled than anything we've seen in the past few years. The seniors have done a fantastic job setting a foundation of energy and expectation for the program’s future. We celebrate every small success. In soccer, we graduated many core people and came into the season very green. Our coaches build in effort and energy, working with the juniors and seniors to build culture and expectations.”

Cross country also provided another wonderful success this fall when low numbers required an innovative approach.

“We partnered with another school in town. We trained with them a couple of days a week and competed as part of their team. It required a lot of independence, and it is another case of a senior who has kept it going. It is a case of a leadership torch being passed to a ninth grader. I think the story on cross-country was students formulating a plan, and then once they solidified, they were improving times and getting better and building confidence.”

What is Scott looking forward to this spring and in upcoming seasons?

“There are two parts. One is supporting the athletics department with healthy minds and healthy bodies, creating habits and opportunities for students to use their voice and leadership potential. Second, it is learning what it means to be a leader. Students can discover new parts of themselves and their potential.

“Winning is about celebrating small moments of success and growth. It's a middle school student or someone who's never played before, playing a varsity sport. They can't kick a ball or check it at the beginning of the season, and they are dribbling and sending it across at the end of the season. Success is about students learning to use their voices and experience to coach each other. And I think that's one thing we do very well as a school — helping to develop voice and leadership through athletics.”