TaborTalk Blog

Day 1-Thursday, March 14, 2019

We are tired! We left Marion this morning at 5:00am and it is now 10:00pm. In between those two times, we all made our flights, we lost a bat along the way, but was retrieved and handed to us just as we were pulling out of Orlando Int'l Airport. We drove for 30 minutes, stopped at Chipotle/Chik-Fil-A and had lunch, drove the remaining hour, arrived at 3:00pm, checked into our rooms, practiced at 4:00pm, had boxed dinners and changed into our game uniforms at 6:00pm, played our first game at 7:00pm in Holman Stadium vs. Loomis Chaffee School, returned to our rooms at 9:30pm, greeted by Mr. Heaslip with 10 pizzas...

The boys and girls lacrosse teams headed to the Sunshine State to get in some spring training before the opening of the season. Below are blog entries from the head coaches, Ian Patrick '84 and RJ Swift '08.

“What makes a good captain?” I ask myself this question quite often. Last year, I was voted to be a junior captain for the Cross-Country team. To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. I knew how to run, but that was about it. How was I supposed to manage thirty runners, and keep them excited about running? Our 50% injury rate certainly did not help. So if you asked me “what makes a good captain?” last year, my answer would have been, “I don’t know.”

Being a captain of a team at Tabor has been one of my goals since first arriving on campus, largely due to the impact of the captains who have led the many teams I have previously played on.

As my final fall season came to a close, I was overcome with the bittersweet feeling of my final days on the field hockey field, while looking forward to a successful squash season. Along with the start of a new season came my responsibilities of captainship. This was a chance to leave my mark on Tabor Academy as the Varsity Girls Squash captain. As the team began to take shape, I noticed the escalating and palpable energy and excitement the players brought to practice each day.

The definition of a team is a group of people or players who come together to achieve a common goal. As the fall season comes to an end and a new winter season begins, the Tabor Academy boys’ varsity hockey team will be looking to make a lasting impact on New England prep school hockey. After graduating 13 seniors last year, there are plenty of new faces that will be wearing a Seawolf jersey this year. As a very new and young team, there is a significant amount of adversity the squad will need to overcome as a team, the key phrase being ‘as a team.’ One of the most essential parts of a team is the commitment to the common goal. In other words, one must be able to overlook personal statistics, achievements, and accolades and concentrate all focus towards the betterment of the team. This is a key piece in being an effective leader, and one certainly does not need a C on their jersey in order to do this.

Fall crew began as a burst of inspiration last spring while I was rowing three seat on Tabor’s first varsity boat. We were cruising through the season, doing well, but something shifted for me when we finished second during our Andover/Exeter race. Putting our speed to the test and crossing the finish line just seconds before Andover had made me so excited about rowing. Those critical seconds increased my motivation, and that of my teammates, to see what might be possible if we put some extra time and effort into it. I decided to speak to our Athletic Director to ask for consideration for a fall student-run effort in hopes of competing in the Head of the Charles Regatta, as some of our sister schools do.

Steve Sughrue and Mary Kate McCain spoke movingly at All School assembly about the incredible legacy the Muthers are leaving behind. Here are excerpts from their speeches, and a slideshow that was shown at All-School.

This morning, members of the Tabor Academy sailing team departed for Charleston, SC to take part of the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) Fleet Racing Nationals for the Clifford Mallory Trophy.  The Mallory trophy is high school sailing’s oldest trophy dating back to 1930 when Headmaster Lillard and others started the sport.  Of the twelve founding schools, only Tabor, St George’s, The Hotchkiss School, and Choate Rosemary Hall still remain out of the 500+ high school programs that exist nation-wide today. 

In May 2016, James Caple and I are starting our quest to row across the North Atlantic Ocean from Cape Cod, MA to Ireland. This distance equates to approximately 2800 nautical miles through one of the most notoriously difficult oceans in the world. Just ask anyone who was on the Titanic! Upon successful completion of our row, we will be the first American pair, the first ever mixed pair, and for me, the first American Woman, to complete an ocean row across this challenging route.

Hearty congratulations to the Class of 2015 on their graduation! At last, we may finally welcome them as alumni of our great school by the sea; and proudly so knowing all the good this talented and civic oriented class will produce in the years ahead.

Commencement services on May 26th will honor of the Class of 2015. We are fortunate to have two engaging speakers who are both successful and important social entrepreneurs. Like many of our students who are devoting more and more of their time to community engagement, these speakers have learned the right ways to best impact the course of people’s lives in lasting ways. It is going to be an inspiring series of talks: indeed, a last lesson from Tabor Academy for the Class of 2015.