Once a week, varsity athletes open car doors for Lower School students, greeting them and guiding them to their classrooms. This initiative is the product of the Mavericks Athletic Student Council.
MAC, a program dedicated to improving team dynamics, recently celebrated its two year anniversary. Founded by Director of Athletics David Cohn and Assistant Director of Athletics Isis Amao, the program aims to help captains become better leaders.
“I’d seen some other athletic departments have something similar and thought it was important to find a space for our captains to be able to talk about the issues amongst themselves,” Cohn said.
The meetings were originally led by Cohn or Amao, who followed a specific curriculum. This year, they have also invited guest speakers.
Captains are expected to attend meetings, regardless of whether they are in-season or not.
“It’s really important that these captains shape the athletic department but also shape the community at large,” Cohn said. “I think it is really important to have them involved and to have them continue to learn and grow.”
Soccer captain Avery Mirza has observed the program’s positive impact. . “It really helps with learning how to be a captain and how to manage tough conversations,” Mirza said.
MAC meetings not only improve leadership skills but also help with communication. In meetings, captains discuss various scenarios to help them prepare for the season.
“Most of the scenarios that we go through are where you have to confront someone,” Mirza said. “I’m not a very confrontational person, but the meetings taught me the right wording and attitude to make communicating really easy and very positive.”
MAC also has a system where teams welcome Lower School students in the morning. Each team is assigned carpool and flagpole duty.
During carpool, varsity players open doors for students during drop off. While the Lower School students enjoy the interactions, parents also appreciate meeting the athletes.
“People really want to know why the students are there,” Amao said. “It’s a good chance for students in athletics to really put their sport out and just be a smiling face.”
Similarly, “flagpole,” an event where Lower School students gather around the flagpole at the Lower School for announcements and birthday celebrations, occurs every Monday.
“When teams go to flagpole, you really get the kids pumped up and it’s just a fun, different thing for our Lower School,” Amao said. “It’s just like building that branch of the community.”
