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Why not us?

This past Wednesday, our Girls Varsity Hockey team hosted its first ever NEPSAC playoff game at home and beat a talented Proctor team 3-1. I was overwhelmed by the intensity and pace of play. Our student body turned out in droves, and the energy was outstanding in the Dover Ice Arena. Within the first two minutes of the game, our girls let in the first goal. We seemed a bit slow coming out of the gates, and I worried if the momentum would quickly unwind for the Bulldogs.

Just the opposite occurred. Immediately, our team was flying around the ice with a renewed sense of focus and urgency. We answered with two remarkable goals just before the first period ended. I was watching as resiliency and grit, the favorite topics of academic researchers these days, were unfolding before our eyes. Now we move on to Boston on Saturday to face the number one seed in the tournament.

It is amazing how a community can hop on the shoulders of a successful team and create benefits far beyond their wins and losses. It is certainly emotional, and almost spiritual in some ways. I remember back in July of 2007, when the girls’ assistant coach approached me during my first summer to tell me that we only had eight female skaters, and he questioned whether we could have a program in the future. Similarly, our swim team was hanging by a thread. Having had a championship season of their own, our swimmers are headed to take on their own New England tournament on Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Joanne Hernon


Sometimes I relish when little Berwick Academy, a day school tucked away in Southern Maine, can surprise other teams with the quality of our play and the fortitude of our character. While celebrating with our girls and their parents at the rink yesterday, I was asked what I thought about their performance. I was actually a bit choked up about the whole thing. When I was then asked about our chance to actually win the entire New England tournament, I responded rather quickly: Why not us? Whatever happens from here, it has been a remarkable season for these girls, and we should all be incredibly proud of what they have accomplished.

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