At Choate, sports are an integral part of life on campus for both faculty and students. Faculty members often coach sports, and they have their preferences as to how they would like their players to act. There is always something that pleases a coach, just like there is always something that disappoints a coach. Daniel Brockett ’19 asked four coaches to share their perspectives on what makes a winning player.
Daniel Brockett ’19: What pleases you as a coach?
Jesse Minneman (Junior Varsity and Varsity Football): I think the biggest thing is focus and effort. Mistakes happen. I’ve never seen a team play a perfect game. I think the key is how they respond to mistakes – whether they compound or they rebound.
Zachary Kafoglis (Boys’ Varsity Soccer): As a coach, it is always rewarding to engage with students who are willing to work hard in the mission of improving as a player, teammate, and person. I have been passionate about sports for as long as I can remember, and a lot of what I learned about dedication, commitment, teamwork, and overcoming adversity came from lessons on the playing field.
Deron Chang (Girls’ Thirds Soccer): Seeing my girls connect and become a close-knit family over the course of the season. They are incredibly patient with each other and realize that being on this team is less about winning and more about learning how to be a part of a team. It’s damn cool, actually.
Daniel Brockett: What disappoints you as a coach?
William Nowak (Boys’ Junior Varsity and Varsity Cross Country): When students see sports as an obligation to avoid and/or resent. Also, a lack of sportsmanship is always distressing to see. Sports are games we play to make us better people. They teach us values like diligence and teamwork.
Jesse Minneman: The biggest thing is seeing players fall short of their potential because of their inattentiveness — when players aren’t putting in the work, and they aren’t doing the best that they can. It’s not putting in the effort in practice like it is a game, which is a really difficult skill to master. But it’s just as frustrating to see players who work hard and are doing everything right, then not seeing the improvements.
Deron Chang: How sad they get when we lose. Something that, unfortunately, happens a lot.
Zachary Kafoglis: Many people do not take advantage of the chances in front them because they are hesitant to put in the effort. I think this applies to the realm of athletics as well. Winning is glamorous, but the work required to get there isn’t.
Daniel Brockett: What is your favorite thing to see a player do?
Deron Chang: When a player on the opposing team falls down and my players stop to help her up instead of playing. It’s a combination of great sportsmanship and a complete lack of awareness of what they should be doing in the competition. Hilarious.
William Nowak: Sports are a wonderful arena in which to view the payoff of hard work. When Girls’ Junior Varsity Hockey won our first game of the winter of ’14-’15, the elation experienced by all was amazing. They had put in so much physical and emotional work prior to that game, and a “W” on the scoreboard was a really nice way to congratulate them all on their fine efforts.
Jesse Minneman: In general, it’s seeing something we worked on in practice. Offensively, in both lacrosse and hockey, when players see spaces and get there when they wouldn’t have seen that before. In football, the most rewarding thing is that there’s a couple of junior varsity guys in their second year on the team and they have made some really effective plays to help us out. It’s great to see when they make a play they wouldn’t have been able to make at the start of the season because of the hard work they put in during practice.
