Tue, October 13, 2026

Team, Self, and Community on the Playing Field

Jenna R. King, Associate Head of School for External Affairs, Riverdale Country School, NY

“F-A, F-A-L, F-A-L-C-O-N-S, Falcons, Fly High!” As I sat watching our homecoming football game this weekend, I listened to a group of third-grade girls cheering on the team and shouting the school fight-song from their turfside seats. Covered in facepaint and proudly waving their pompoms, most did not personally know a single player on the field. Their shared identity as members of the Riverdale community brought them together. It was even unclear what these young fans knew about football, but the beauty of the moment was that it didn’t matter. Being at the game to support fellow students was what the experience was about.

At Riverdale, as at other schools, athletics connects people. Kids attend school sporting matches to support their classmates. As an institution with many accessible fields and athletic spaces, it is also fairly simple for a teacher or administrator to pop out to see games, even between after-school meetings. Comparatively, parents often ask how they will connect with other parents at a school whose student body represents 120 zip codes. Our answer is clear—attend your children’s athletic games, and you will quickly get to know other families. Parents of designated team captains serve as organizers creating WhatsApp groups, planning dinners and post-game snacks, and in creating team-specific gear so families naturally become part of the action. There’s little that unites a group of people more than bringing them together to support their kids who are working with one another to achieve a common goal. 

Sports are meaningful for the school community, but the benefits to the athletes themselves are remarkable. Sports teams bring students together from multiple grades and from every background. Regardless of identity, a student who chooses to join a team and participate as a Falcon has a sense of place. Middle schoolers can join the athletics program as the teams are not capped and thereby inclusive of all athletic abilities. Of course, outside of school there are students who play on travel teams and who compete at the club level, but so often it is school teams that bring together kids from every level—those who have been playing a sport since Kindergarten and those who are brand new to athletics. Students have equal playing time as well as the opportunity to both hone their skills and compete against other schools. 

At the Upper School level practice schedules become more intense and students are split into varsity and junior varsity levels in many sports. However, there is always at least one team each season that is open to all. As a school we recognize the power of athletics and recently added opportunities for Lower School students to stay after school to learn new sports skills from off-season varsity coaches. We want students to feel the importance of being part of something that is bigger than themselves, where collective effort overshadows individual accomplishment. 

By being on a team together, students create lifelong friendships. Going to practice together day after day, students have time to exchange stories in a way that can’t happen in the classroom. Walking from class to the locker room, getting into uniform, riding the bus to away games, and preparing for competition gives a student downtime and the chance to just get to know one another. To this day, I can say that some of my own best friends are my college teammates. We are scattered across the country, and yet we can quickly pick up past conversations after several months and often reminisce about the traditions and memories developed as teammates. We were “in it, to win it” together season after season, and although the team looked different yearly, as students graduated and new ones joined, we have those memories to keep us together. At our school, we want our students to live in the moment, but we also want them to build community, a network of friends that will stay with them for life. 

As a former high school and college All-American athlete, as well as high school and collegiate level coach, I have always believed that sports are a key part of one’s education. Through sports students develop skills and habits that serve them well in whatever direction they go in life. Prior to the big game, students practice day after day without fully realizing that they are learning how to collaborate and cooperate. They learn to communicate with one another and how to constantly readjust so that they are striving towards new goals. Older students have the chance to serve as leaders and role models for their younger teammates helping their peers understand what being part of the team is all about. Student athletes also learn how to treat another team with respect. Athletic programs give students the chance to develop those skills in authentic and meaningful ways. As such, our school’s focus on “learning by doing” plays out so very clearly in the gyms and on the fields. 

Students serve as guides for one another, but they also have the chance to develop strong relationships with their coaches. School leadership takes the hiring process for coaches very seriously and ensures that coaches embody the values in our mission—Mind, Character, and Community—in the same way our teachers do. Professional coaches understand that their role goes far beyond teaching the fundamentals of sport. They are there to teach student athletes to be strong performers but also good people. 

I have listened to many sports awards presentations during my 22 years at Riverdale, and the coaches bring me to tears each year as they share their fondness for their students, memories of the season, and the inside jokes gathered along the way. For students, having a coach with whom they can connect is truly a gift. It is different from the relationship students have with their parents or teachers. Coaches see students at their most vulnerable and at their proudest moments, and they can be students’ biggest cheerleaders. Good coaches know how to give constructive feedback, guiding students in so much more than just mastery of a sport skill. 

Weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend my own high school coach’s 80th birthday party and it was truly special. He coached me in track and cross country more than 30 years ago and still remembers so much about the experiences we shared together. And, I know he did the same for the many different teams he coached over his 40+ year coaching career. Coaches know how to hold you accountable as a team and as an individual. They are among the best at inspiring you to do what even you didn’t know you’re capable of doing. It occurs to me that so many of us seek out this same coaching or mentoring relationship in our work and personal lives long after our participation in team sports winds down. Good coaches truly change lives. 

Although so much about sports is defined by the team and the connection with others, athletics can also benefit students so much as individuals. Our student-athletes learn to warm up, stretch, manage injuries, and listen to their bodies. They are supported by their captains, their coaches, and an incredible training staff. They figure out when to rest and when to push through pain. Students learn how to use a fitness center properly while balancing sport-specific training with overall fitness and strength. They also learn to hydrate and what is needed to eat for peak performance. From our school’s culinary team to our strength and conditioning coaches, a team of adults is available to serve our athletes as they grow. Our director of athletics, John Pizzi, is a leader who regularly partners with outside organizations to ensure that the School is helping student-athletes to care for themselves. While we may want teams to be successful on the scoreboard, what’s most important is the lesson students learn about maintaining their healthy bodies. 

Just as our mission pairs the development of character with the development of the mind, we believe being involved in sports helps a student engage in physical conditioning and build effective mental health habits. A student learns to accept disappointment and come to understand ways of challenging themselves to rise to the next level. By reaching goals and finding success in a sport, students develop confidence. For me personally, feeling confident in one area of my life has always translated to feeling good about myself in other areas. I have seen this happen for countless students as well. Scoring that winning goal or running that fastest time makes you feel invincible and ready to take on the world. It helps you realize that hard work truly can pay off and that believing in yourself matters. 

The benefits of being on a team are tremendous, but sports require a big commitment of both time and energy. Families often ask if their kids will have time to play a sport alongside everything else they are doing at Riverdale, and I quickly say “Yes!” In fact, my experience and the experiences with my own children prove that we all manage our time better when we have structure and routine in our days. Playing a sport can reduce stress levels and calm nerves, making students more effective at other tasks like completing homework. 

I’m proud of the many ways students develop and grow. Our school designs schedules to allow students to pursue many passions and interests from theater and music, to science research and writing, to robotics and debate. The mission of our athletic program is to provide a meaningful athletic experience for each student-athlete, while maximizing student participation, promoting sportsmanship, representing the school with integrity, and understanding the importance of balancing the commitments. Fortunately, so many of their paths touch our robust athletics program, whether as athletes or fans. Go Falcons! 

About the Author

Jenna Rogers King is the Associate Head of School for External Affairs at Riverdale Country School, NY, where she oversees admissions and enrollment, financial aid, and communication responsibilities at the school. Prior to joining RCS, Jenna worked as a teacher, coach, and dorm parent at Suffield Academy, CT. She holds a BA in art history and French from Dartmouth College and an MA in private school leadership from the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.