Athletic seasons do not just happen, especially during Covid-19. Athletes and coaches do not simply show up and perform on game days, but instead spend countless hours watching film, working on strength in the fitness center, and refining both tactical and technical skills during practice. Teams navigate adversity, quarantines, injuries, and unexpected challenges. They fall short of goals one day and exceed them the next, and it is this built in uncertainty and the lessons therein that remind us the educational value of sport. 

A “normal” spring would have Proctor's baseball team traveling to the Dominican Republic for spring training and community service. A trip that has been a part of the program for the past five years, and one everyone looks forward to, this season, again, began without that foundational experience for players and coaches. Fortunately, a warm spring had Carr Field and Proctor’s pristine baseball diamond playable for the Hornets for their spring season starting in early April. 

This spring has brought one obstacle after another in the path of the Girls' Varsity Lacrosse team. With a few key players quarantining for over 30 days, just being able to get on the field the past couple of weeks has been a reward in itself. Led by head coach Jill Jones Grotnes and assistants Kate Austin ‘01 and Karl Methven, the team looks forward to finishing the season strong after a convincing 15-5 win over Brewster Academy last weekend. 

It was March of 2020 when news of a global pandemic began to impact every corner of the United States, Head Coach Ray Summers and the 2020 team were preparing for the upcoming season in Phoenix, Arizona. In the blink of an eye, the excitement surrounding the forthcoming season quickly vanished as the focus shifted to making sure the team returned home safely to quarantine. Over 400 days later, the Proctor Boys’ Lacrosse team retook the field for the first time together. It has been a long-awaited season, but thankfully, the Hornets have been able to compete and reclaim their spring season. 

It wouldn’t be altogether spring if there weren’t at least one small tribute to the sport of baseball, that maddeningly slow game that I find altogether addictive and centering. Everyone has their sport weaknesses. Mine just happens to be baseball in the spring, and late yesterday afternoon when I passed Mark Tremblay’s squad running through situational drills I could feel the draw. I just wanted to linger and watch as he slapped balls to the infield and outfield and ran the team through its paces before their games this weekend. Man on first, ball hit to left: where’s the play? 

As the temperatures continue to increase and the remnants of snow on campus and at the Proctor Ski Area slowly melt away, we reflect on the most unique winter athletic season we have experienced. With athletes donning masks to compete safely, and with the help of coaches, athletic trainers, athletic staff, ski area crew, and peer schools, the winter athletic season was nothing short of a success. Thank you to everyone that made the winter season happen, and to the staff at the Proctor Broadcasting Network for working tirelessly to provide livestreams of all home athletic contests! 

In Michael Porter’s 1996 Harvard Business Review piece titled “What is Strategy”, he outlines the concept of strategic fit, the idea that an organization’s success is not determined by isolated attributes, but by the interconnectedness, or fit, of all its components. This notion of “fit” explains how Proctor’s unique combination of on-campus experiential learning opportunities, integrated academic support, authentic relationships among faculty and students, term-long off-campus programs, and high level arts and athletics all work in synergy to provide an unparalleled educational experience. The complexity of Proctor’s USSA/FIS Ski Program serves as a microcosm of how this concept of strategic fit operates within the greater Proctor model. 

While Head Coach Maggie Kennedy has been out on maternity leave for the majority of the season, coaches Hunter Churchill ‘01 and Rachel Moore have been hard at work with the Girls Varsity Hockey team. Although they have had a challenging start to the season in terms of their win/loss percentage, the team is determined to right the ship and end the season on a positive note.