This August, Sidwell will begin preseason for its fall varsity sports. While most teams start pre-season training on Aug. 19, boys’ varsity football starts on Aug. 12 in preparation for the new season.
Last fall, the Quakers football team saw improvement from the previous season, finishing with a 5-3 record. The program will continue to be led by Interim Head Coach Jamar Chichester ’09, who joined Sidwell’s football program in 2019 as an assistant coach.
This year, the team hopes to move up in the ranks of private school football teams and build upon its past success.
Although the Quakers will not participate in a league, it will face opponents such as Severn, Potomac, St. Stephen’s, and St. Agnes.
The girls’ field hockey team is also looking forward to the coming season and to playing and growing with new players.
Several student athletes, such as sophomores Olivia Sisson and Brennan Kenller, expressed their enthusiasm to be back on campus with their teams.
“[W]e are all prepared to work hard to improve from the previous season,” Sisson said, while Kenller commented that
“I’m looking forward to playing with the team again this fall. I know we will all have so much fun.”
Boys’ varsity soccer hopes to play with the same energy and enthusiasm that led them to the MAC tournament banner. Under head coach Ibrahim Toure, players shared goals of winning the MAC again and possibly the DCSAA league.
Girls’ varsity soccer finished with a record of 7-3-4 last fall and hopes to further improve upon their record.
Sophomore Olivia Bianchi Alves shared that “last season really helped [her] improve as a player, and [she’s] looking forward to improving even more this season.”
As always, the team’s major goals are winning the ISL Championship and the DCSAA Tournament, and Head Coach Ryan Alexander and Assistant Coach Natalie Williston will build upon their years of experience.
This fall, the girls’ varsity tennis team hopes to continue its winning streak from last year, when it finished 99-1 and remained a top team in the country.
Head Coach Logan West, who was named the United States Tennis Association Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year in 2021, will continue to help guide and coach the team through another season.
Sophomore Natalie Macintosh said she was “really looking forward to this new season” and was ready to continue working hard.
Boys’ and girls’ cross country is starting the season early with their first competition, Trials of Miles, in Leesburg, Virginia on Aug. 30. Last year the boys placed third overall at the MAC Championships and the girls finished fifth.
Many of the cross country coaches — such as Martin Suresh, Murat Kayali and Joe Korth — are also teachers at Sidwell. Cross country also welcomes new coach Emily Compton to the program.
According to senior Robby Matsui, Sidwell’s cross-country preseason is “always such a great time as it really sets the team dynamic going forwards.”
The preseason also serves as a way for everyone to “reintroduce themselves to each other and [for] all of the freshmen start to acclimate.”
“It really feels like a time to ease into school without all of the obligations and work,” they added.
