On Secondary Sports Day 2013, Sean Lynch shares his observations. “Competing to win is important, but what matters too is motivation, setting goals for ourselves, doing whatever we can to achieve them, and then placing the bar even higher the next time around,” he writes.
7:45AM, Friday, September 20. Some secondary school students have already arrived and are gathering outside the 75th Street entrance, dressed in our official blue and white sportswear, eager for this year’s sports day to begin. “Are you excited”, I ask? “Yes sir,” one of them replies, adding “This is one of my favorite events in the year.” “And what a day it’ll be,” I agree, looking down at the schedule which the head of our physical education department, Basile Aymé, has flawlessly organized, with invaluable help from fellow sports teachers Alexandra Brevet, Noémie Ceschiutti, Julien Laplante and Bernard Otalora, precious support from the director of our Cultural Center, Pascale Richard, and tireless commitment from each and every member of the middle and upper school pedagogical and administrative team. “Mr. Aymé and his colleagues have prepared a remarkable day for you. You’re in Quatrième, right? Look, you’ll be starting with basketball in the gym, then running a cross-country race and playing soccer on Randall’s Island, and to finish, learning about sports from one of the world’s greatest sports photographers, Emmanuel Dunand.” Our eighth graders’ eyes are sparkling; their faces are smiling. And I know that their classmates will be beaming too; all of our students from Sixième through Terminale will be benefitting from the same outstanding program.
9:15AM. Sports photographer Emmanuel Dunand shows one unforgettable photograph after another to an enraptured audience of ninth and tenth graders in our auditorium. We see tens of stunning photographs of athletes from all over the world. In each case, whether the photographed person happens to be running the 100 meters, scoring a goal in soccer or preparing to serve in tennis, the audience is mesmerized by the images before us. And what is it exactly we detect in these photographs which so enthralls, I ask myself, observing the amazement of our students? It seems that in a single shot, Mr. Dunand is able to capture why it is that we human beings love sports so much, not to mention why it is that we at the Lycée Français de New York consider physical education to be such an important part of our mission. These photographs of swimmers and rowers and hurdlers in action tell us a story about determination, about respect for self and others, about the power of teamwork, about our drive always to push the limits of personal and collective achievement, and the list of enduring values which Mr. Dunand succeeds in capturing goes on. NB. The special speaker for our eleventh and twelfth grade classes, also greatly appreciated, was Brad Smith, Director of Photography at Sports Illustrated. Thank you very much to both of these extremely gifted photographers for being with us!
10:30AM. In the stairwell, en route to the Randall’s Island sportsfields, I bump into a colleague from our French department who draws a brilliant parallel between the narrative dimension of Mr. Dunand’s photographic craft and that of the literary storytelling about which she teaches in class. Sports as a mirror to the human adventure, it strikes me. Yes.
11:15AM. “How was the race?” I inquire with several middle schoolers, this time at Field 70 on Randall’s Island. “Tough,” says one. “I finished second,” replies another. “Did either of you have one those moments,” I continue, “when you felt like giving up, but somehow kept on going?” “Yes, sir.” “And how did you do it?” I ask. “Well, I focused my mind and tried to forget the pain in my side,” explains one boy. “I changed my breathing and put more weight on one of my legs than the other,” adds a girl. “I just forced myself to keep going”, interjects another young woman, joining our conversation. “Bravo,” I say, continuing “You remind me of Pierre de Coubertin, the great Frenchman who founded the modern Olympic Games. ‘Faster, higher, stronger’ was something he said. Competing to win is important, but what matters too is motivation, setting goals for ourselves, doing whatever we can to achieve them and then placing the bar even higher the next time around.”
1:45PM. Seated in my office, writing this post, I can hear a group of students right below my window, laughing and telling stories about the soccer match from which they must have just returned. Their sense of camaraderie is palpable. On behalf of us all, please allow me to express our heartfelt gratitude to Basile Aymé, to Alexandra Brevet, Noémie Ceschiutti, Julien Laplante and Bernard Otalora, to Pascale Richard and to every member of our secondary school for their impressive efforts in preparing and bringing to life a truly superb Secondary Sports Day 2013!
*The Olympic motto, proposed by Pierre de Coubertin, widely acclaimed as the father of the modern Olympic Games. Translation into English: “Faster, higher, stronger.” French: “Plus vite, plus haut, plus fort.”
About the Author :
Sean Lynch was Head of School at the Lycée Français de New York from 2011 to 2018, after having spent 15 years at another French bilingual school outside of Paris: the Lycée International de St. Germain-en-Laye. Holding both French and American nationalities, educated in France (Sciences Po Paris) and the United States (Yale), and as the proud husband of a French-American spouse and father of two French-American daughters, Sean Lynch has spent his entire professional and personal life at the junction between the languages, cultures and educational systems of France and the United States. In addition to being passionate about education, he loves everything related to the mountains, particularly the Parc National du Mercantour.