Recipients of the 2023 Coaches’ Awards returned to campus Thursday afternoon for the Athletics Banquet. Before recognizing this year’s award winners, Liam Brodeur, Avery Schneider, Nebiyou Elias, and Quincy Treisman shared some advice with this year’s graduating class and then passed the torch to Andrew Green, Annika Vittal, Rhys Kaplan, and Liv Dawson. Thank you, Liam, Avery, Nebiyou, and Quincy! And congratulations, to Andrew, Annika, Rhys, Liv, and all of our graduating eighth grade student athletes!
Nebiyou Elias
Some advice for future high school athletes in this room. Embrace failure: view setbacks as learning opportunities. Each failure teaches you something new and brings you one step closer to success. Understand that failure is not the opposite of success but a part of the journey. Keep a positive mindset, learn from your mistakes, and never give up. I hope all of this year’s eighth graders continue to play sports in high school and continue to have fun, congrats on wrapping up your final season at Belmont Day.
Liam Brodeur
Looking back on my time at Belmont Day, I learned a lot about how to be a leader. In both seventh and eighth grades, I missed a significant part of the lacrosse season, and I had to learn to lead and be a part of the team from the sidelines. This allowed me to see our team from a different perspective and when I recovered from my injury, I was a better leader. My advice to all of you rising ninth graders is no matter the situation: be a leader. It doesn’t mean you need to be the loudest person on the field, and it doesn’t mean that you need to be the best at what you’re doing, it just means you need to be accountable for your actions and you need to hold yourself to a standard that others can follow.
Quincy Treisman
Belmont Day athletics are truly unique, in that they provide an opportunity for every athlete to find success. My time in the athletics program helped shape me into the athlete and teammate I am today. The friendships you formed, the lessons you learned, and the memories you made are things that you will carry with you for the rest of your lives. From my time at BDS, I will always remember running across Harvard’s field after winning Friday Night Lights, decorating teammates’ lockers before Friday Night Hoops, and taking the first draw of the lacrosse season. Good luck next year eighth graders: never stop playing like a BDS athlete.
Avery Schneider
Belmont Day taught me so many things about who I am and who I want to be, but most of all how to be a good teammate and how to embrace mistakes. A team is a safe space to make mistakes or take risks, which helps us improve. But failing is hard, and as a perfectionist, the idea of a mistake can be paralyzing. Even so, I will always remember what Coach O’Neill said to me and our basketball team last year: “Make mistakes at full speed.” We cannot let the fear of failure deter us from taking risks; otherwise, we will not grow. As you begin your first year of high school, I encourage you to embrace your teammates and embrace the challenges that you will encounter.
