For Love of the Game An Appreciation of Tom Parr ... - Hopkins School

Sandy MacMullen hopes to pass
onto his lacrosse players is “the
simple joy of play” and “being proud
of what you and your teammates
have done.” “Winning becomes
relatively unimportant compared to
the other two.” In May of 2005
Sandy and his players celebrated a
quarter of a century of gathering for
the annual alumni lacrosse game on
Memorial Day weekend every year.
Participants represent a broad range
of years, graduates from the late
seventies to current seniors.
Whether “even” or “odd” years
come out on top, the real winners
are those who make time for the
event, to keep up with old Hopkins
friends and make new acquaintances.
The game is a fixture on
many calendars—a tradition that is
unique and treasured among
lacrosse alumni. What makes all
these alums return to Hopkins on
Memorial Day weekend? The simple
joy of play.
Kids don’t try out for soccer in order
to improve their team responsibility
skills. They don’t try softball to work
on sportsmanship. Why do kids
really play sports at Hopkins?
Because it’s fun. They learn valuable
far-reaching skills along the way, but
that is not what they think about
while playing the game. “It’s
important to have fun,” says Tom
Parr. “It’s important to wrap yourself
up in the spirit of the game and let it
carry you through.” In the past
seven years, Tom has led football
teams to three victories in a New
England Bowl game. The first two
bowl victories were in 1999 when the
Hilltoppers defeated St. Thomas
More and in 2000 when the
undefeated Hilltoppers beat Tabor
Academy. When the football team
won against Hebron Academy this
past fall in their third bowl, they
were walking on air. Coach Parr
remembers: “Those were fantastic
times. The kids felt great about
themselves, and their sense of
accomplishment reached the stars.
Those memories will stay with them
for life.” But there are also other
times. “It’s easy to coach a winning
team, but the measure of a good
coach is taken the first day after you
lose. It’s crucial to bring the team
back together, rouse them, unite
them, and remind them that the sun
will rise again. I want my players to
look back and forget how often they
won or lost. I want them to say, ‘Boy,
that was fun.’”
5 S P R I N G 2 0 0 7
Coaching softball has been an
important part of my life for 28
years. Every season brings a new
set of faces, a new team dynamic,
a new team “personality.” I look
forward to practice everyday
because I know the players look
forward to it, too. They leave their
classroom life behind and step into
an entirely different educational
environment. But what I love most
is making sure my players have fun
while they are playing and learning.
At the end of each season all I
hope is that each player takes with
her the wonderful memories that
she helped to create.
–Cindy Chase
Assistant Director of Athletics
and Varsity Softball Coach
Preparation trumps almost everything
else. If you train, you will get
better. If you don’t, you won’t.
–Miguel Pizarro
JS Cross Country
The best thing about coaching is
seeing students’ personalities more
fully than in the classroom. These
are subtle, interesting kids, and seeing
them develop skills and confidence
is exciting. In the process of
that growth, we also see the kids
become more variegated as people
and over a four-year span, that
growth is remarkable. I want my
players to come back to their 20th reunion and play me—I want
them to be squashers for life!
–Brad Czepiel
Squash