John Dunham '11 Speaks at Winter Athletic Assembly

The end-of-term Athletic Assembly is a way to get all of the students at Eaglebrook together to celebrate their successes, as well as their learning moments, in the athletic arena. Eaglebrook welcomed back John Dunham ’11 as the speaker for the winter Athletic Assembly. After graduation, John attended Hotchkiss, where he played squash all three years and was named captain his senior year. From Hotchkiss, John attended Connecticut College, where he played squash all four years. He was named Rookie of the Year his first year at Conn and was named captain for his junior and senior seasons. John is a member of the CSA, College Squash Association, Player Advisory Committee. He is currently living in San Diego coaching squash at a local squash club.

 

John spoke to the community about his athletic experiences. He learned to play squash at a young age, but he also played baseball, tried lacrosse, and played football while at Eaglebrook. He commented on how his Eaglebrook squash experience was unique when compared to the squash he had played before because it was a team sport, not a group of individuals playing for their own ranking. Another factor marking his squash experience at Eaglebrook was that the team played mostly against high school teams, so John had to get comfortable playing older, larger, competitors quickly. “I just feel that Eaglebrook sports are very special because you get to represent something larger than even your team, you get to represent this amazing place.” Watch John speak about how Eaglebrook athletics prepared him for athletics at secondary school here.

 

He wrapped up his talk by saying, “Preparing for this talk has reminded me how much I learned here, at Eaglebrook.” He continued, “What makes this place truly special is the people, and the meaningful relationships you are able to develop here. I know it is tough having your teachers involved in every aspect of your life. These close, meaningful, and yes, sometimes frustrating relationships are what make this place special. What you do have here, the relationships you will build and the lessons you will learn will stick with you forever.”

 

Athletic Director Luke Williams said after John spoke, “How do you measure the success of an athletic season? Winning records are nice, but do they really tell the whole story? Like everything in life, there is more to the story. When you dig deeper and look at our teams under a microscope, you see much more than game results. You see how members of the team treated each other. You see the smiles from genuinely enjoying time spent with teammates. You see how we acted when traveling to away games. You see how we supported each other through the ups and downs of a long season. You see how hard we worked, and how we battled through adversity, and you see the emotion that comes as we say goodbye to the season and realize that a specific group will never be together on a team again.” Watch more of what Mr. Williams had to say here.

 

Thank you to John for sharing his athletic journey with the Eaglebrook community, and for reinforcing the message that athletics pursuits are not all about the wins and losses column.