I'm a Sidwell parent (2 current students and one grad) and I had the pleasure of attending the sports awards program last week. As in previous years, it was great to see the school spirit and support among the kids, as well as the strong bonds between coaches and students. I was struck by how many coaches noted that award-winners had demonstrated support not only for their own teams and teammates, but for teams in other sports. Yes, there were kids there who will compete at the college leve, whether in D1 or D3, and there were teams that excelled -- as well as those that struggled. But the real point here is the wonderful spirit of Sidwell sports that infuses the whole program. For those considering Sidwell for their sports-loving kids, I hope you'll take a look at the school and keep this in mind. The athletic program might not be for every kid, but it has a lot to offer.

Anonymous wrote:LOL. Even if that freshman class at football is amazing (and I'll bet everything that it's not), you need several classes of football players to turn a program around. It's not like basketball where 1-2 kids can change everything (that's what Sidwell did - they brought into 2-3 AAU kids and now the basketball team is respectable).

I look forward to seeing how they fare this coming. It can't be any worse.

A couple of points on basketball, as a recent poster seems to be beating the drum on the idea Sidwell has shipped in transfers en masse: (1) the best boy's Sidwell player has been there since middle school; (2) one of this year's few new players is the son of a Sidwell faculty member; and (3) Sidwell would need to do a whole lot more recruiting to scratch the surface of what goes on in the IAC (Bullis and Episcopal have foreign players; Georgetown Prep and occasionally STA use their dorm to house out-of-the-area players; Landon recruits for basketball big time, etc). (I have ties to an IAC school but know families with children on the Sidwell basketball team and thus know the composition of their team.)

Philosophically it's interesting: people criticize Sidwell for not having big time sports but also take shots at them when they do have Future Division I caliber athletes. I can take or leave some of the Sidwell parents I've met -- the ones who are kind of aggressively whiny and entitled -- but it does seem like many people are looking to find fault with a top-notch school. (Landon too seems to bring out the angry posters.)

Lastly, many appear to believe that "sports at Sidwell" translates to boys' sports only. Unlike the boys' schools who are the true sports' powerhouses in this area, Sidwell is a co-Ed school with a correspondingly limited pool of male athletes and a strong tradition of producing some top female athletes. Compared with co-Ed schools of similar enrollment, Sidwell is doing just fine.

I would guess that the gym construction impacted the decision for many kids to choose other schools.

oh I'm glad to see you bring up football since it was pointed out that Sidwell beat IAC teams in several other sports. Just the facts...


We love our football team and we love the players. The team will slowly improve over time and will be competitive in the MAC - our league. That's all I have to say. And I think that's all that matters.

LOL. Even if that freshman class at football is amazing (and I'll bet everything that it's not), you need several classes of football players to turn a program around. It's not like basketball where 1-2 kids can change everything (that's what Sidwell did - they brought into 2-3 AAU kids and now the basketball team is respectable).

I look forward to seeing how they fare this coming. It can't be any worse.

Look. I'll let this drop because it is inevitable where this is going and obvious who is behind it. But someone upset about the prep/landon thread going south resurrected this thread (Feburary) in effort to distract people by bringing up up the Sidwell sports program. Here is what people will say about Sidwell in the posts that are certain to follow. 1) parents and administration at Sidwell don't care about sports. 2) Sidwell kids are bad athletets. 3) The football team is terrible. 4) Noboday cares about sports Sidwell does well in like soccer and wrestling. 5) Sidwell is a girl's school. I might have forgotten a couple of items but you can save your time and skip.

I see we've gone back to blanket stereotypes about Landon again. Sad.

Hi Landon boosters.

No $hit. It was stupid and ridiculous to keep beating the dead horse that is apparently Sidwell sports.

It's a comment about spring sports at Sidwell.

Really? Who else is playing football this time of year?

Sidwell has gone a combined 26-34 so far this spring.

Probably because it evokes an expected reaction from Sidwell parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By beating Edmund Burke, Sidwell swimming successfully avoids becoming the Sidwell football of swimming.

What motivated you to take time out of your day to write that?

Ha.
What motivates anyone on this board to write some of this stuff?

Anonymous wrote:By beating Edmund Burke, Sidwell swimming successfully avoids becoming the Sidwell football of swimming.

What motivated you to take time out of your day to write that?