Dear Norfolk Collegiate Students and Parents,
We have an exciting year ahead of us, and I am thrilled to be a part of the Norfolk Collegiate family. My role as your athletic director is to coordinate and administer our competitive athletic program to provide opportunities for growth and development of every student at Norfolk Collegiate who chooses to participate in sports. I am committed to nurturing an environment where enthusiasm for our various programs is widespread and infectious. From athletes and coaches to parents and teachers, we all have a stake in the overall success of our athletic program. School spirit must be rampant. Go Oaks!
Helping me with my duties this year will be Mr. Kai Evans, a graduate of Christchurch School and Virginia Tech, where he played soccer. He has been an independent school teacher and coach, and Mr. Evans has spent the past seven years as the Program Director for the Irvington YMCA, where he organized schedules and practices and supervised coaches, and he is looking forward to being back in an independent school environment where he can work more directly with students, parents, and teachers to provide a fun and challenging experience for everyone involved. I know you will find his friendliness, enthusiasm, and organizational skills to be a great benefit to our NCS community.
As we prepare to begin a new school year with its three seasons of competitive athletics, we want to emphasize a few themes that will help us as a school strengthen our ability to provide the best possible educational experience for our students. First of all, we depend on all students grades K-12 to get excited about Norfolk Collegiate athletics. Every student matters, from our top athletes who aspire to play in college to those who simply enjoy being on a team and playing with their friends. Second, everyone who chooses to participate should commit fully in order to achieve the greatest benefit from the experience. Practices and games must be a priority; athletes must dedicate themselves to working hard to improve themselves individually, which can be done only by being an active participant in the program. With this in mind, we want to encourage all athletes to take advantage of our strength and conditioning program, whether in season or out of season. We must all understand that improvement will come only with effort and dedication. Please contact me if you would like more information about this program. Third, to provide more leadership opportunities for our students, we will establish a captains’ club and a managers’ club in order for growth and development beyond the fields of competition. Finally, at Norfolk Collegiate we should develop a “we” mentality as opposed to a “me” mentality—the success we will celebrate as a school will be shared by all.
Looking forward to a great year! Let’s go Oaks!
Mary Peccie
Director of Athletics