July 2011
Dear McDonogh Parents,
Welcome back to another new school year! We hope your summer has been a great one for you and your family. We want to share with you some thoughts about why playing sports is a great experience here at McDonogh. Let’s start with one of the important goals we have in preparing athletes for competition. We want students to learn how to handle challenges when things are not going well and to endure being stretched beyond their comfort zone. The entire Upper School faculty and students have been asked to read Laura Hillenbrand’s novel Unbroken this summer. Teachers and students will meet in small discussion groups to talk about the book’s merits during the first week of classes. We are sure the conversations will be spirited!
Endurance means "the ability to last, to tolerate, to bear pain without flinching."
Louis Zamperini, the protagonist in this novel, demonstrates this character trait while he is a prisoner in a 1942 Japanese war camp. Suffering countless beatings and other tortures, Louis keeps his spirits up and miraculously survives and returns home alive but not unscathed. First, Louis survives seven weeks floating on a raft among sharks in the Pacific Ocean after his plane goes down, and if that wasn’t tough enough, he is later captured and brutalized for three years as a P.O.W. Louis survives this experience because he is one tough guy who knew first-hand hardships growing up as a poor boy in California. A street survivor, Louis battled bullies in his neighborhood, stole food, and always got into trouble. It was his older brother who encouraged him to channel this energy into running. So Louis discovered he could run, and boy, could he ever!
Running became an outlet for Louis’s frustration and was the catalyst he needed to make something of himself. Motivated now, Louis worked hard at training and improved week after week in high school and college. He even had the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games in Berlin on the American track team as a top distance runner. Sports certainly prepared him for life’s later twists and turns while serving his country.
At McDonogh, your children will not undergo the extreme conditions that Louis did during war time, but they will face physical challenges-- getting their bodies into shape and learning how to open their minds and hearts to the joys of working together for a common goal. They will learn how to be unselfish and do what’s best for the team. They may be asked to play a position that is new to them simply because the coach needs them to do so. Playing sports teaches young people great life lessons like humility, perseverance, discipline, and putting the needs of the team first.
We want your child to explore the many athletic opportunities that are available at McDonogh, as well as the myriad of arts and extracurricular activities that await them after school. We offer 28 varsity programs and are proud that over 70% of upper school students play two or more sports. Will you encourage your teen to play a sport? We certainly hope so!
We encourage new freshmen to get involved this fall season so they are well on their way to becoming a Golden Eagle. What is a “Golden Eagle”? It is a student who participates in 12 seasons on any sport team, at any level, as a player or manager. This prestigious award is given at Commencement. So encourage your teenagers to play the sport they love or take a risk and try a new sport this school year.
If you have questions about when tryouts start in August for a fall team, do not hesitate to contact our office at 410-581-4752 or click here for more information. We look forward to seeing you on the sidelines this fall. Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer with your family! Go Eagles!
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