Saints Athletics
St. Andrew's athletic program is, for many students, the cornerstone of their St. Andrew's experience; it is on our teams that students learn their most impactful lessons and forge their most indelible St. Andrew's memories. Our coaches spend two hours of uninterrupted time each day with student-athletes, more than any single teacher or advisor, and more than half of graduating seniors identify an athletic moment or team when asked to name a highlight of their time at St. Andrew's.
Our athletic program is centered on:
- Encouraging students to pursue multiple sports rather than specializing in one
- Highly personalized coaching & mentorship
- The highest standards of sportsmanship
The most powerful impact that athletics has at St. Andrew's is that it teaches our students their efforts matter, that being engaged matters, that being there and having each other's backs matters, that pushing their chips to the center of the table and being "all in" matters, and that when they take this approach collectively as a student body that there is no more powerful force in the world than the St. Andrew's community.
Al Wood, Director of Athletics
What Does It Mean to Be a Three-Sport Athlete?
Although specialization is the current prevailing trend in American high school athletics, St. Andrew's encourages its student-athletes to pursue a different path: that of the multi-sport or three sport athlete. In leaving home to attend our all-boarding school, St. Andrew's student-athletes forego playing a single sport year-round on their local club or travel teams, but gain the opportunity to become more complete athletes—and we believe the benefits of pursuing this "road less traveled by" makes all the difference for our student athletes. And, thanks to our coaches' extensive network, committed St. Andrew's athletes are also able to compete with local club, travel, AAU, or U.S. National teams if they choose.
Greater opportunities for leadership development & personal growth
As a three-sport athlete, every four months, our students start over: they begin a new sport, on a new team, with new teammates, all of whom have new levels of talent. The best player on the soccer team in the fall may find that he is not the best basketball player or swimmer in the winter. This differential creates an opportunity to grow, both physically, and mentally. Athletes learn to display leadership within different teams and different context, and to work within differing social dynamics to build connections with teammates and coaches. This growth opportunity is not as present in the club or travel team environment, in which athletes in the same age group routinely play together, with the same coaches, year-round, and year after year. As they develop as adolescents, high school athletes need opportunities to challenge themselves within their zone of proximal development, break out of the set role or expectations coaches and teammates may have assigned to her within a given sport, and define and re-define themselves on their own terms. Multi-sport participation gives our students such opportunities.