Anonymous wrote:No, just on the football field, this year.

Really, do the STA and Landon boosters here really think their child has a golden ticket to a full-ride D1 school through sports?

If not, then what difference does it make how good a football player someone is? Will the experience of teamwork and leadership be all that different if there is no intention of playing at the next level? I guess the intermural fields at your child's college will see the benefit if their high school prowess?

I didn't know Landon and St Albans parents hoped their children would major in football in college. There is a good site for Georgetown football that is forthright in the explanations of pay for play:
http://www.hoyasaxa.com/sports/fb-faq.htm

And I love how everyone is coming out against Sidwell athletics less than 10 months after the soccer team finished NUMBER ONE in the entire DC metro area. When was the last time St Albans was ranked number one in anything? Or Landon for that matter (prep has claimed the lax power position)

So many people with axes to grind. Face it. Sidwell is a great all around school and so are several others in this area. Is it the selectivity that gets everyone so riled up??

Anonymous wrote:No, just on the football field, this year.

Really, do the STA and Landon boosters here really think their child has a golden ticket to a full-ride D1 school through sports?

If not, then what difference does it make how good a football player someone is? Will the experience of teamwork and leadership be all that different if there is no intention of playing at the next level? I guess the intermural fields at your child's college will see the benefit if their high school prowess?

Right on.

No, just on the football field, this year.

Really, do the STA and Landon boosters here really think their child has a golden ticket to a full-ride D1 school through sports?

If not, then what difference does it make how good a football player someone is? Will the experience of teamwork and leadership be all that different if there is no intention of playing at the next level? I guess the intermural fields at your child's college will see the benefit if their high school prowess?

Exactly. Sidwell is a great academic school, but a disaster on the athletic field.

STA should be a model for Sidwell and a few of the IAC schools. STA has strong academics, if not the best academics in the area. They also have a strong sports program. They are certainly not DeMatha or Gonzaga (they dont have an enrollment close to 1,000 boys) but STA is always solid in football, soccer, lacrosse and of course baseball every year. I applaud the administration for maintaing academic excellence and fielding great athletic teams across all sports!

Landon and Prep do a great job with finding a balance between academics and athletics as well.

What everyone seems to forget is that Sidwell Football's situation is NOT INDICATIVE of the entire sports program's situation!!

Anonymous wrote:As a current Sidwell parent with high school kids who play sports 2-3 seasons a year, I can tell you that most parents at the school don't care at all that the football team is losing. Academics come first at Sidwell, and while the school strongly encourages exercise and athletic competition, few parents are going to worry about the score at the football game. What's important is that the kids have fun and stay healthy. I think the athletic director is doing just fine.

Exactly. This is the exact mentality of the parents and administrators of that school. It is why Sidwell is a doormat when it comes to sports. At other schools, excellence in the classroom and athletic fields are not mutually exclusive.

As a current Sidwell parent with high school kids who play sports 2-3 seasons a year, I can tell you that most parents at the school don't care at all that the football team is losing. Academics come first at Sidwell, and while the school strongly encourages exercise and athletic competition, few parents are going to worry about the score at the football game. What's important is that the kids have fun and stay healthy. I think the athletic director is doing just fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, it is a relative non-issue.

Not to the Sidwell children/parents affiliated with the football program who want to compete every week on the field. They know now (if they didn't previously) that sports at Sidwell is an afterthought.

This is harsh--but those kids are obviously not good athletes. That's why they lose by humongous margins. Not one current player would get playing time at, say, Landon or STA, and the IAC is no great shakes in the wider football universe. If the school brought in better players, they'd ride the pine. The whining is mind-boggling.

I'm curious about why you say this. How many games have you attended?

PP,

I think everyone has been saying that Sidwell is a terrific academic school. It is the delusional Sidwell parents who, by insisting their sports program is fine, are keeping this thread alive.

I see they played a game after they forfeited two weeks ago. The score? 56-6. They have been outscored 167-18 this year.

It is pretty interesting that this has gone on for 9 pages. My take. Everyone considers SFS one of the big three but many are taking the sports issue as a chink in the armor of SFS. Sidwell is a great school but just like every school it has its positives and negatives.

Finding a school with the best fit for your child is so important and for some, SFS may not be that fit.

That's a mean post and obviously made by some one who is not very familiar with MAC or IAC football.

You need to wake up if you think that any current Sidwell football player would ever get significant playing time at either Landon or STA. This type of blind devotion is exactly why Sidwell is Sidwell when it comes to sports. The school is never going to improve its sports program when the parents can't see the reality of the situation.

this is by someone who uses the word whinng in every post and does in many different contexts about Sidwell. It sounds to me like he or she is the one doing the whining or whimpering. No matter what you say, this poster will see you are whining.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, it is a relative non-issue.

Not to the Sidwell children/parents affiliated with the football program who want to compete every week on the field. They know now (if they didn't previously) that sports at Sidwell is an afterthought.

This is harsh--but those kids are obviously not good athletes. That's why they lose by humongous margins. Not one current player would get playing time at, say, Landon or STA, and the IAC is no great shakes in the wider football universe. If the school brought in better players, they'd ride the pine. The whining is mind-boggling.

That's a mean post and obviously made by some one who is not very familiar with MAC or IAC football.