Is November more beginning or more end? Is it the wind up as in the final stages when the last notes of a song are played or the last calculus problem set of the term is completed? Or the wind up like when a baseball pitcher shifts the seams, finds the curve grip, and collects for a single pitch that is simply one of many?
For the fourth time in the last eleven seasons, Proctor’s varsity football team has completed an undefeated season, following in the footsteps of the 2006, 2008, and 2012 teams who also ran the table in the Evergreen League. Proctor’s team was selected for its fourth New England Bowl berth in program history, earning a bid to the Wayne Sanborn Bowl vs Hamden Hall School scheduled for Friday evening at 5:00 PM at Worcester Academy.
On a run through Proctor’s cross country trails earlier last week, a Ted Radio Hour played on my headphones. The conversation, facilitated by Guy Raz, discussed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how the groundbreaking research of Abraham Maslow in the 1950s laid a foundation for modern psychology (listen to the full show here). As I plodded through the woods on the cold November morning, admiring the rusty oak leaves for their perseverance and looking ahead to Holderness Weekend, my thoughts turned to the intersection of Maslow’s hierarchy and our work at Proctor.
Each season brings with it a unique set of opportunities and challenges. Over the past ten weeks, athletes and coaches have worked tirelessly to help their teams become the best version of themselves they can be. Our athletic mission statement clearly emphasizes the journey, not just the results. While we are thrilled with the post-season ambitions for our football and boys' soccer teams, as well as the outstanding finishes in league competition for our mountain bikers, cross country runners, and crew team, we are most proud of the effort and commitment our students and coaches demonstrated each afternoon.
Following the final whistles of today’s games, our attention shifts to a rekindling of the long-dormant end of season rivalry with that school up north. Born on the athletic field more than 100 years ago, Holderness Week took on new life in the late 1960s when former Colby College teammates David Fowler and Bill Clough were hired as football coaches at Proctor and Holderness, respectively. The rivalry intensified over the ensuing years as playful pranks between the schools unified generations of Proctor students and faculty in support of one another. Through the efforts of Holderness’ Rick Eccleston (son of long-time Proctor faculty member Tom Eccleston) and Proctor’s Gregor Makechnie ‘90, Holderness Weekend is back!
For the past fifteen years, Proctor’s Mountain Bike team has been at the center of the sport’s boom at the high school level in New England (read more about the rise of mountain biking in New England here). Now with nearly thirty teams from Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts competing weekly, the Northern New England Mountain Bike league has become a mecca for high school cyclists in the Northeast with more than 400 riders competing each week. At Saturday’s league championships hosted by Gould Academy, Proctor earned second place overall as a team and garnered a number of first place individual honors.
Growing up I had never considered myself a runner. Sure, I ran all the time as I played sports as a kid, but never thought of running for the sake of running let alone competing. During my freshman and sophomore years at Proctor I was a member of the JV soccer team each fall, and managed for the varsity soccer team the next year. Running never crossed my mind. The idea of running cross country was first introduced to me after the Spring 2016 On Your Mark 5k race after I had a strong finish. Someone had asked me, “Why don’t you run cross country?”, Later that day I asked myself that same question, and became a runner.
With over thirty afternoon activities and athletic teams available to Proctor students, it is hard to provide equal coverage to every team on campus. For a group of soccer diehards (some completely new to the sport) whose daily home on Emmons Field naturally keeps them out of the spotlight, we thought it was time to give Proctor’s JV2 Soccer team the attention it deserves.
