An enthusiastic crowd of athletes, students, and families tried their hand at cornhole, posed at the blue and gold photo booth with friends, and participated in a raffle that was all coordinated by the Athletic Department for the first-ever Winter Athletics Carnival on Saturday, Jan. 11. The day brought out spectators to watch and cheer on the Boys’ Varsity Basketball (BVBB), Girls’ Varsity Basketball (GVBB), Boys’ Varsity Hockey (BVH), and Girls’ Varsity Hockey (GVH) home games.
Director of Athletics Jaye Locke explained that the idea for the Carnival has been in the works for a while.
“I think as a department, we have been talking about the fact thatwedoalotofstuffinthefall … We really wanted to begin to celebrate the winter season and the spring season as well, so this was a first step in that direction.”
Coach Locke said recognizing all student athletes at the school is a priority. In the future, the Athletic Department hopes to do just that, she said.
“It is important that we honor and celebrate all the hard work that our winter teams do. There’s this feeling that the fall gets all these events, and every season is just as important. The goal is to have one major event each season and to put some resources behind it.”
Cole Blackburn ’26, a BVBB player, appreciated the Athletic Department’s efforts to help boost attendance for winter sports.
“I was really impressed with the Winter Athletics Carnival,” he said. “The emphasis is usually on all the events in the fall like Friday Night Lights and Homecoming, so I thought it was nice to have an event for winter sports.”
BVBB Co-Captain Micah Gershenson ’25 said that the large crowd at the Carnival brought his team extra motivation, aiding in their first win of the season with a score of 69- 43 over Austin Prep.
“One-hundred percent having a big crowd helps give the team energy,” Micah said. “I think during assemblies is a good time that we could encourage school spirit by giving out announcements along with more regularly sending emails about the games.”
Describing the start of the season, he added: “Our season started out a bit rough. We had some injuries, some sicknesses, we got off to a slow start.”
GVH Co-Captain Hannah Weyerhaeuser ’25 appreciated that there was more to the day than just games, as her team built on their 7-1-1 record with a 4-2 win over Groton.
“I liked that the Athletics Department was trying something new and being able to watch other teams before and after our game. There was also good food and drinks and the photo booth. It was fun to have all of those at one of our home games this year.”
Additionally, GVBB took a 71-56 win over Phillips Exeter Academy. Co-Captain Madeline Egan ’25 scored 46 points. BVH was the day’s only loss, falling short of Middlesex 2-1.
.Nava Galperin ’28, who attended the Carnival, was impressed by the success of the school’s teams.
“Everyone was playing very well, which made the games especially entertaining to watch,” she said.
Nava added that one key factor in increasing game attendance and maximizing school spirit is making sure students and fans are aware of scheduling.
“I would say we can encourage school spirit by more events like this. We need to make sure that all the information about the games gets out to people.”
In addition to student spectators, families also took advantage of the activities and celebrations. Dr. Rinaa Punglia P ’25 ’27 attended to support her daughter on GVBB. Dr. Punglia said the event fostered a sense of community.
“Even though I only got to see one game, it was really nice to see all the school spirit. It was great to see all of the teams.”
US Math Teacher Christine Oulton, who attended the event as a spectator, was impressed with both the large turnout and the variety of teams and athletes, she said.
“There were four games, which made it feel really nice, two girls’ and two boys’ teams competing which I thought were a lot of athletes represented, which was really nice.”
