WESTMINSTER
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Paying Tribute to Dennis Daly Following the alumnae and alumni lacrosse games, English teacher and Director of Athletics Dennis Daly, who was retiring from Westminster at the end of the academic year, was honored. During his Westminster tenure, Dennis served as head coach of lacrosse, twice as athletics director and twice as head coach of football. He also coached Second Boys’ Basketball, First Girls’ Basketball and Second Boys’ Lacrosse. “A big welcome back to all of you to Westminster on a very special day and the inaugural day of the Hovey Field,” said Headmaster Bill Philip, who then paid tribute to Hov and Jenks Hovey, for whom the new synthetic field is named. “We are also here to recognize an important man in Westminster’s history who is a very good friend and who has made a difference in all sorts of programs at Westminster.” Bill described how Dennis’ role at Westminster extended far beyond athletics, how he was a student of coaching and a “coach of coaches,” and how he approached his classes with enthusiasm for helping students. He announced that Dennis had been named the recipient of the 2012 Nadal Sportsmanship Award, the most prestigious award of the Founders League. He also spoke about how the Daly family, including Dennis’ wife, Sandy, who was retiring from teaching 19 years at Renbrook School at the end of the year, and their children, Lindsay ’01 and Tyler ’04, had been a very important part of Westminster School over the years. Lacrosse coach Todd Eckerson P’09, ’11, ’16 talked about his long history with Dennis, going back 37 years when Todd played lacrosse for Williams College, and Dennis was the assistant coach of the Middlebury College team. “I remember this game because it was the last time that any Williams team I played on ever beat a Middlebury team coached by Dennis,” said Todd. “Not only didn’t we ever beat Middlebury again, we never even got close.” After discussing Dennis’ many contributions to the school as a coach and teacher, Todd added, “I have often thought that some of the best jobs Dennis did coaching here involved those of his teams that had the worst records. I always had the sense that those kids got Dennis’ absolute best — that in an odd way their experience was even more valuable than winning a championship.” Head Boys’ Lacrosse coach Peter Newman ’80 read quotes from some of Dennis’ former lacrosse players and talked about Dennis’ legacy. “There is so much Dennis in both our lacrosse program and in our lives that as I reviewed our team playbook the other day, there was very little that did not have a least something either borrowed or blatantly plagiarized from Dennis Daly,” said Peter. “But that is Dennis’ legacy: stuff that works, lessons, techniques and wisdom that make mediocre teams good and good teams great. It is the stuff that makes players
Dennis and Sandy Daly
“But that is Dennis’ legacy: stuff that works, lessons, techniques and wisdom that make mediocre teams good and good teams great.”
and coaches champions and, most importantly, better human beings.” Peter asked everyone to join him in reading one of Dennis’ most important legacies, the “Now” poem. Following Peter’s remarks, Dennis talked about the history of the Westminster lacrosse program, its coaches and some of the teams he coached over the years. He also described how faculty members David “Hov” Hovey and Dick Adams P’93 had been role models. He said it was “fantastic” to have the Hovey Field completed in time for the day’s events and thanked everyone. “You have meant more to me than I think I could ever mean to you,” he said in closing. “This is a great place to coach and to teach, and you have accepted me for who I am.”
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