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Winning Character in Athletics

from The Pride | Fall 2022

from The Pride | Fall 2022, page 36

Scholarship Funds Honor Marksmen

Coach Flaherty speaks to the varsity football team Elijah Ellis ’22 and Alex Nadalini ’22 lead the varsity football team on to Hunt Field for a home game

Amood of nervous anticipation rippled through the Science Lecture Hall as varsity football team members filed in for their first full meeting of the 2021 season. Many of the boys knew only the disruptions of the previous years, from the tornado that interrupted the 2019 season to the pandemic restrictions that curtailed the 2020 season. To add one more uncertainty, the School had hired a new head football coach: Harry Flaherty, a former D-1 college athlete and NFL signee.

Flaherty’s message was clear: character and effort would

be their path to victory.

“Right off the bat, he talked about discipline and character,” said Alex Nadalini ’22, quarterback and team captain for the 2021 season. “Coach said we would be high-class men with respect and discipline and we would set the tone every game with our effort.”

This message is echoed across the Athletics Department. Marksmen athletes are taught to win with character. And it’s a message that is proven in the results: for 13 of the past 15 years, St. Mark’s has received the SPC Athletic Directors’ Cup, awarded to the best athletics programs in the conference. This past year, four of the 15 varsity teams won SPC or state championship titles, with dozens of individual champions named in multiple sports. And of the 99 graduating seniors, 16 have committed to continue competing at the collegiate level.

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Consecutive years that St. Mark’s has received the SPC Athletic Directors’ Cup in recognition of being the top boys’ athletic program in the Southwest Preparatory Conference

Crew boats qualified for USRowing National Youth Championship

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2021–2022 Championships: Volleyball (SPC), Cross Country (SPC), Track & Field (SPC), Water Polo (State)

As a whole, Lion athletes are extraordinarily talented and successful. But this success is not the goal of the coaches, trainers and teachers. In every practice, game and interaction, the faculty strive to transform these boys into men of character first and foremost. But the lessons inherent in building a successful man — discipline, sacrifice, trust, commitment to purpose — often lead to a successful athlete.

Following that initial team meeting, Flaherty put his message into practice — and got results. The varsity football team started the 2021 season on a hot streak, winning five of their first six games before quarterback Nadalini was sidelined with an ACL tear. But even with this setback, Flaherty continued to push his captain.

“Coach said the team still needed me, whether I play another down under the lights or not,” Nadalini said. “He told me that it was up to me to decide how I would respond to this event. These moments have become life lessons because the coaches took the time to help me grow.”

“We are proud to have a strong athletic program that is committed to excellence, but the true measure of our program’s success is watching the boys excel in the years ahead as a result of their meaningful athletic experiences at St. Mark’s,” said Sean Lissemore, director of athletics.

By focusing on the development of character first and foremost, St. Mark’s transforms boys into good men, who then can become great athletes.

“At St. Mark's, we are not solely focused on winning and losing; rather it is how we win and lose that truly defines our athletic program,” Lissemore said. “With that being said, character, integrity and discipline are the essential building blocks of any successful team and certainly go hand and hand with winning in competitive sports.”