Reflection From an SC Alumnus!

Eric, Sports Challenge Alumn ('02, '03), has been coming back to SC the past two summers to help out and take photographs of SportsChallenge in session.
Below, Eric shares his experience of coming back to SC!!!


Seven or eight years ago my family and I, together, made the two-hour drive up to Middletown from DC. For the past two years, I have been making the drive myself. Although the drive has changed a little, (Middletown now has a Wal-Mart, etc.) the one constant that remains is the nervous energy that builds in my stomach as I turn onto Silver Lake road just a mile away or so from the St. Andrews.

I arrive a little after lunch Friday afternoon and although it’s siesta time, the SC student-athletes can be seen practicing dance moves for the grand finale of color wars later that evening. The white team, led by coaches L. Caldwell, Hartheimer, Weinfield, Polykoff, Griffith, McGarvey, Garcia, Hare, Barrera and Garcia appear to be in organized chaos. As Coach Polykoff shows off his impressive moves from “Thriller”, a handful of people are gathered doing the Soulja Boy and student-athletes Sean Brown and Malcolm Williams practice singing their duet for Coach Koster, a judge for the performance.

Shortly before 3 p.m. the teams break up for an intensive two and a half hour afternoon of Athletics. As I enter the gym to begin my volunteer task of taking pics, I find myself immediately wanting to jump in with the girls program for a game of dribble tag but have to remind myself to keep my lens focused. The girls work on their shooting form in small groups as Coaches Drury, Griffith, Carden, Garcia, JP and Gomez walk around to critique and encourage.

After satisfying my basketball fix, I make my way out to the pitch. The boys soccer program immediately catches my attention as soccer balls fly from side to side across the row of tennis courts as part of a “soccer tennis” tournament set up by Coaches Dean, Gonzalez, Weinfield, Nolan, Barrera, A. Galvan and C. Galvan. Directly adjacent to them, the girls are running around playing a game called “haveit” where the object of the game is to literally try and run circles around your teammates, accruing points for each lap, while the other team passes the ball between their legs and over their heads as quickly as possible. Coaches Gibson, Roberts, Arenberg, Caldwell, Hare and Holle look on, encourage and keep tally while Coach Schirmeister runs full speed with one of the teams all the while encouraging at the top of her lungs.

The sun sets as the student-athletes filter into the cafeteria for some suppertime nourishment and last minute preparations for SportsChallenge’s version of America’s Best Dance Crew. By 8:05 the auditorium is overflowing with energy and excitement as the performances begin. A Journey remake, drag queen Lady GaGa, break dancing, and three incredible a capella performances highlight the night as the white team and their MJ moves take home the gold. After the show, it’s off to bed, for some much needed sleep before another long day.



By seven a.m. the student-athletes have lined the court for morning an agility, strength and conditioning workout aptly named “Vitamins” for the SC athlete. They fly through it with quickness and determination and carry the energy straight into two Athletic sessions and leadership class for the day.

In the afternoon, I make way to the basketball courts where coaches McGarvey, Roach, Shay, Grell, Deasey, Hyde and Polykoff are leading the boys program through a couple drills before their playoff tournament to decide who will be crowned the 2010 SC champion. Each game is intense and well fought but Team Paparazi led by Coach Deasey rises to the occasion to claim victory in the Championship game. Tired and exhausted after a second long day, I try to relax before waking up to say goodbye to one more summer at SC.

The quality of learning, character building, athletic training, and fun that I experienced over the past two days has been a constant fixture over the eight years I have known SC. It is as constant as the nervous energy I will get next year when I make the drive again.

-Eric Schlein

"It's All About Your Mentality"

Mark Puma, from (AMC, New York), describes to a few coaches how his role as a leader is different here at SportsChallenge than it is back home.

"You learn so much. You think all your going to do is sports, sports, sports,…and it’s not all about that--it’s about your mentality. Some people, they could be the best players, but if they don’t have that mentality, they can’t go that far or be a team player. You can't be selfish or not want to give something to the program. Here you learn that with a team, you’re going to get further than you could by yourself. It’s better to be united as whole team than as an individual."

Mark participating in his afternoon Leadership class.

Questioner: Are you the captain of your team team in New York?

Mark: No

Questioner: Do you feel like a leader?

Mark: Yeah, in a way...I try to push other people do better. Not only skill wise, but outside too, like schoolwork. I sometimes help them out with their schoolwork, and their problems.

Q: What about here at SC?

Mark: Here, I start new, and I work on getting to know people, and I’ve worked on figuring out my spot on the field. I like meeting the different types of people.

Q: What type of leader you’ve become?

Mark: I think I mostly lead by example. It motivates me even more to see them working hard if I know they’re following my lead.

Q: Have the coaches here been different?

Mark: Well, here they make sure you get better, and that you’re working on it. For example, I kicked the ball and I over shot it, and they taught me to lean towards the ball more, so that it doesn’t go as high.

Mark P. (part of the White Team), tagging someone for "Capture the Egg"
After the second part of SportsChallenge games, the White Team led the way in first place.

Finding Your Voice and Valuing Others' Perspectives

Well, I feel that here at SportsChallenge I have to be more vocal, because I know I’m a shy person. I’ve learned to step up out of my shell, and communicate--and if I don’t, my ideas won’t come out. If I don’t step up I know I won’t get better at what I’m doing.

As a female, you have to work hard. When you play coed, you have to play a little aggressive with boys. They just think they have the control – you have to prove to them you can be a leader – you have to speak your ideas, play aggressively, and motivate your team.

In class, I’m usually quiet – now I raise my hand more, instead of the teacher having to call on me. When we set our SMARRTE goals, my advisor made it really specific and told me how many times a day I should try to speak out.
My advisor and I set the goal to speak once to three times in class...and on the field I play defense, so my goal has to been to tell them to push up more, or come back.

In my Sports Psychology Class, we did an activity called "human knot". We were tangled, and this kid Bader was in my class, and he’s usually the one who steps out and talks. The teachers though, said he couldn’t talk for this exercise. Everybody, including me, started to talk more, and I felt that was an opportunity for me to speak up more. I learned that you have to be able to listen well, and speak just at once.

This has been really different than Bell. At Bell, there’s a lot of Hispanics, and El Salvadorians. Here though, there are folk from Philadelphia, and New York.
I think it’s cool that our roommates are basketball players, because we have to step in there shoes, and get to know them. I also think it’s cool that we switch up sports, and get to play with them.

I learned that we speak different languages. We talk slang, but their slang is way different from DC. When we say a word, they’re like "what??"
Since your so used to your DC people, it’s a good opportunity to step to the other side and see how they speak, and their language.

-Elsa (Bell, Washington DC)