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Last night was the opening meeting for the 2014 lacrosse season, which is not exactly the type of event that I would typically pick to elaborate on, considering that I have probably sat through nearly two dozen of these drawn out talks before year after year. However, this opening meeting was unique since it took place in enemy territory…or at least what I used to consider enemy territory back when I was in high school. It was weird enough to walk through the halls of my storied cross-town rival, and it goes without saying that I did a double-take when I saw my name and photo next to my former rivals crest. In short, last night was nothing less than surreal, and it dances along the line of qualifying as a paradigm shift. Last night was my first experience as the head coach for the school that I had considered my rival for over a decade.
It was plenty awkward, almost unnerving, to find a warm welcome upon taking a seat at the table among those bearing the navy and yellow color combo that I had come to despise as a student, but this experience provided an excellent learning opportunity for a young teacher such as myself. Upon having a chance to observe and absorb my immediate surroundings, I noticed a stark contrast between what what I was currently perceiving and what I could recall of my personal high school experience as a student. This led me to recall a question that countless potential families asked and always stumped me as an admissions tour guide in high school. The gist of the question required me to provide a reason or explanation as to why my school was “better” than our cross-town rivals. As I previously mentioned, this question always stumped me. However, I realized last night that one clear difference between the two schools is the general culture present on each campus, which was blatantly present in my observations of the parents, players, and other assorted individuals in the room last night.
My observation regarding the “cultural” aspect of the experience surrounding my first time engaging with those who I once considered as rivals is nothing more than an idea currently. However, I would like to offer a rough explanation to all of those families who had the pleasure of stumping me with their question of “why is my school ‘better’”. It is possible that it is impossible to determine which school is better based on what each has to offer the student, and the same goes regarding what a student has to offer. Rather, I have an inkling that it is better to determine, or define, the ‘better’ school by means of the experience and interaction between the student at hand with each school.
