First-floor TVs at North cycle through upcoming games and highlights of star athletes, showcasing the school’s athletic spirit. Below the TV featuring the “Top Tigers,” the girls’ soccer team is displayed in a photo, wearing their spirit-day outfits and ready for the upcoming game.
Nearly every day features some form of tribute to the athletic programs, which are one of the cornerstones of North’s community. Students who play for North’s sports teams represent a significant portion of the student body and are often recognized for their achievements by the administration, faculty, and students
Tucked among North’s student-athlete superstars is another group of athletes: fencers, swimmers, rowers, rock climbers, and others who pursue sports outside of school. Some compete in sports not offered at North. Others participate in sports outside of North to get consistent, year-round training and unlock more of their athletic potential.
These athletes often go unrecognized compared to their in-school counterparts due to their lack of affiliation with North. Yet, many achieve significant success, from being recruited by top Division I college programs to competing in national and international competitions.
Senior Peter Engel is one of the many hidden athletes at North. He has been fencing for the past five years, and now fences for the Danish National Team while training out of Dynamo Fencing Center club. He has competed around the world at multiple world championships.
“Club sports have a more competitive environment than the school sports, where it is a lot more social than it is focusing on the sport,” said Engel, who is no stranger to high-level competitions. Prior to taking up fencing, Engel competed in European Gymnastics, winning the Danish national championships five years in a row while living in Denmark, where he is originally from.
Competing in sports at a high level does not come without cost, however. According to Engel, “it is easy to lose the ability to hang out with people after school if you are really busy prepping for a competition.” Engel added that “you can sort of get drawn away from your friends when you are outside of school, so I think having a school sport allows you to do a school sport and stay with your friends, whereas it is easy to lose that aspect when you go to a club.”
Senior Quinn Caputo is a swimmer committed to swim at Cornell University. Caputo has swum club throughout high school and will, for the first time, join the North team this year.
With club swimming, “there is definitely more practice time,” said Caputo. “Also, there is more specialized training, definitely for swimming. The school training is great, and the school team is great, but you definitely have training that is more tailored to you in a club environment. Also, it is easier to go to meets where college coaches will be, so it makes it easier to get recruited,” he added.
However, the demanding schedule of club swimming holds Caputo to a busy routine. He said he is looking forward to competing on North’s swim team, where the schedule will be more manageable.
By swimming on North’s team, Caputo will also benefit from a more understanding attendance policy surrounding athletic dismissals. Currently, students receive an ‘N’ for their attendance grade if they miss more than five classes, but absences for North-affiliated sports events do not count toward this limit.
“The attendance policy is definitely not tailored towards out-of-school athletes like it is for in-school. It is really hard to get an excused absence for swim meets if they are not school-sanctioned,” said Caputo. “Last year I went on a bunch of official visits for recruiting, and you can’t get those as excused absences either. So, it is really hard to not get an ‘N’ and also be a recruited athlete.”
Senior Izzie Acosta rows for Community Rowing Inc. (CRI), a high-level club team out of Boston and said she also struggles with attendance.
“Student-athletes competing on teams outside of North should be able to have the same attendance standard as athletes that compete for North,” according to Acosta. “While we are doing just as much work for a sport that we love, we are not able to have excused absences and unable to leave school early for our sport.”
Despite not wearing North jerseys, all three athletes—Engel, Caputo, and Acosta—along with other club players, are dedicated to their chosen sports, just like those who compete for North.
