Private school sports rivalres

[Anonymous]

Do the schools around here have rivalries or do they keep a lid on it? Personally, I am of the belief that rivalries are dumb.

[Anonymous]

Yes they have rivalries in the schools that are good at sports.

[Anonymous]

Even the ones that aren't good still have rivalries.

The Cowboys and 'Skins can both stink, but they play each other twice a year and it is still a big game.

[Anonymous]

Flint Hill and Potomac gets really intense... Also some of the Catholic schools.

[Anonymous]

Depends what you mean by the term "Rivalry".

A rivalry, IMHO, is where the ga,es between the schools take on an out-sized importance beyond what they mean in the context of the league current season.

Private schools are more likely to have them because of the "institutional memory" that surrounds them. Alumni stay closer to the schools and old bitter contests are remembered. Parents, staffs, teachers and coaches instruct the students on the histories and on the importance of these games. Old games, old villains, bad calls and disputes have an extended life that casts it's shadow over the current season.

Schools that have long history of playing one another in meaningful games are more likely to have a rivalry. Schools that are equally good at sports like football and now lacrosse are more likely.

Gonzaga vs. St John's has been going on for decades.

Prep vs. Landon is the bitterest of local rivalries of which I am aware.

[Anonymous]

Prep vs. Gonzaga is pretty bitter as well. Another well-known kind of local rivalry s Woodberry Forest and Episcopal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prep vs. Gonzaga is pretty bitter as well. Another well-known kind of local rivalry s Woodberry Forest and Episcopal.

Not much "bitterness" in the GP vs. GZA rivalry that I noticed and we had three sons who participated. They don't even play one another in all sports (no basketball, for example) These are, after all, both part of a larger community. They'd both like to win, but the intensity doesn't come close to GP vs. Landon or of GZA vs. SJC (or at least at the level it used to be).

[Anonymous]

I think rivalries can be healthy, but I know kids can take it to another level by shouting obscenities and the like. What's worse is when the parents join in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends what you mean by the term "Rivalry".

A rivalry, IMHO, is where the ga,es between the schools take on an out-sized importance beyond what they mean in the context of the league current season.

Private schools are more likely to have them because of the "institutional memory" that surrounds them. Alumni stay closer to the schools and old bitter contests are remembered. Parents, staffs, teachers and coaches instruct the students on the histories and on the importance of these games. Old games, old villains, bad calls and disputes have an extended life that casts it's shadow over the current season.

Schools that have long history of playing one another in meaningful games are more likely to have a rivalry. Schools that are equally good at sports like football and now lacrosse are more likely.

Gonzaga vs. St John's has been going on for decades.

Prep vs. Landon is the bitterest of local rivalries of which I am aware.

Really - Landon and Prep are main rivals? I thought STA and Landon were... so if no, then who is STA's main rival?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think rivalries can be healthy, but I know kids can take it to another level by shouting obscenities and the like. What's worse is when the parents join in.

That's Landon vs GP. Boorish.

[Anonymous]

You could say the Woodberry-Episcopal rivalry is intense.

https://youtu.be/rK7ChZyWEA8

[Anonymous]

OP, why are rivalries dumb?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could say the Woodberry-Episcopal rivalry is intense.

https://youtu.be/rK7ChZyWEA8

Holy Sh!t

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends what you mean by the term "Rivalry".

A rivalry, IMHO, is where the ga,es between the schools take on an out-sized importance beyond what they mean in the context of the league current season.

Private schools are more likely to have them because of the "institutional memory" that surrounds them. Alumni stay closer to the schools and old bitter contests are remembered. Parents, staffs, teachers and coaches instruct the students on the histories and on the importance of these games. Old games, old villains, bad calls and disputes have an extended life that casts it's shadow over the current season.

Schools that have long history of playing one another in meaningful games are more likely to have a rivalry. Schools that are equally good at sports like football and now lacrosse are more likely.

Gonzaga vs. St John's has been going on for decades.

Prep vs. Landon is the bitterest of local rivalries of which I am aware.

Really - Landon and Prep are main rivals? I thought STA and Landon were... so if no, then who is STA's main rival?

We are talking about a matter of degree here.

The GP vs Landon thing is between two schools that have pretty much dominated the major sports (football, basketball and lacrosse) for the past several decades. They are also physically close together and serve the same geographic areas primarily, although different groups withing the same area.

For GP and Landon in most sports, STA is pretty much another game on the schedule.

[Anonymous]

Potomac vs Flint Hill games are always crazy intense.