Panthers Roar Back to Action
Coaches on the return of sports teams.
November 2021
After 18 months on hold due to health and safety measures, competitive athletics season resumed at Browning this fall! Boys from fifth through 12th grade donned the red and black and returned to the fields without masks in the open air to represent the School in soccer and cross country.
The season began with a preseason retreat where a record number of boys came out and ended with all the teams playing full seasons and improving—not to mention the varsity soccer team clinching a spot in the playoffs for the first time in five years. As we look ahead to a healthy and successful winter season filled with many Ws, the editors of Buzzwords invited the coaches of the fall teams to share their experiences and what they’ve learned.
Lauck Blake, JV Soccer Coach: Soccer camp is always a great way to reconnect and create positive memories. This year felt extra special, after not being able to see colleagues and students in person last year.
Sam Permutt, Varsity Soccer Coach: I know our boys missed being in competitive and collaborative settings with each other where they get to express themselves physically. Even sprints and conditioning felt exciting; just to be able to see the boys pushing each other on the field and supporting each other through the challenges.
Michael Cohn, Assistant Athletics Director: Considering how long it had been since we were able to be together on the playing fields, the skill level was high.
Daniel Peña, Varsity Soccer Coach: The excitement and passion from the coaches trickled all the way down to the students and created a competitive environment full of hard work and team camaraderie. Our preseason camp was a staple to the varsity team’s successful season.
Andrew West, Athletics Director: Seeing the boys competing and wearing the B on their chests with pride makes me happy. I have enjoyed seeing how excited the parents have been as well, coming out to support the Panthers.
Dominique Bernard, Varsity Cross Country Coach: It was just a great feeling to be back in Central Park for practices and Van Cortlandt Park for meets. The spirit of being together as a team was missing as well as the camaraderie, the conversation, the exchanges that make a group alive.
Brandon Harwood, Varsity Soccer Coach: Being back on the field felt like a haven. The value of athletics and the lessons that are learned through sport and teamwork had a deeper meaning since it felt like a touchstone of real life. Through the pandemic we had forgotten about connection, activity, and competition. I can’t say enough about how wonderful it was to be out in the open and playing a game.
Permutt: Getting on the field came with a lot of gratitude, from adults and students alike. Having the opportunity to take off our masks and go back to playing felt special in a way that it might have felt routine in the past. I felt grateful for afternoons of competing and connecting.
Stacey Duchak, JV Soccer Coach: The team bond and camaraderie is such an enriching part of my experience at Browning and I value the time I get to spend in a nonacademic setting with these great groups of gentlemen.
West: Although we used Zoom to check-in with the team and athletes last year, it’s not the same as being able to have them pop into the office throughout their days to discuss strategy or really just chat about what's going on in their lives. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I got them back.
Blake: Working together to try and achieve a goal is a valuable skill in life. The tactical progress and skill development from the start of the season to the end of the season is often significant and rewarding to watch. I enjoy seeing the boys’ performances improve as the season progresses. Not having that for me is what I missed most as a coach.
Permutt: One of the best parts about coaching, for me, is the opportunity to have meaningful conversations about collaboration, character, mentality, and more. Having games and practices and focusing on a common goal outside of yourself (and one which people often bring emotional investment to) creates so many opportunities for informal conversations about the most meaningful things.
Harwood: I missed being able to work together as a group. This year, we always formed a huddle and joined hands at the end of each practice with a cheer of “Browning on 3!...” It made me realize how I had missed that feeling of togetherness and teamwork.
Jonathan Stoler, 7/8 Soccer Coach: The boys were all very excited to be able to be a part of a team again. You can tell by the way they interact with each other on and off the field. They all enjoy competing very much so, but win or lose they are all just happy to be playing on a Browning team together again.
West: The boys have risen to the occasion and gelled like they never missed a step. I think that stems from having such a strong foundation of bonds from years before. Browning bonds run deep!
Blake: Team building is the same as it has always been—the boys were so eager to play, and they are so social to begin with, that connecting and communicating and dealing with wins and losses, and personality differences, that all was natural and part of the team building process.
Duchak: For our JV soccer boys, the pre- and post-game bus rides were definitely highlights of the season as they laughed, joked and sang along together to some epic pop songs. Even with boys in grades and some new students, they supported each other on and off the field. Team building was seamless and the boys clearly valued the out of school bond with their teammates.
Harwood: I was proud how our players always leaned on the next guy alongside him—no matter what grade or experience level.
Scott Farmer, 7/8 Cross Country Coach: Through the fall, the boys themselves brought Panther values to our pursuit, most especially a sense of dignity and purpose. As teammates, they recognized that each runner had different strengths and that our shared purpose required celebrating incremental improvements for all.
Kristofer Pischel, 5/6 Soccer Coach: The Browning core values play a role in everything we do. It gives the boys a baseline sense of expectations, which they almost always live up to.
West: I think Browning boys carry our values with them no matter where they are. In the classroom, lunchroom, or on the field. We play hard, we play to win, but we play fairly and with integrity. At the end of the day people forget most of the wins and losses, but will never forget the lessons they learned being on teams and the relationships they built.
Cohn: 5/6 Soccer is the boys’ first experience on a Browning team and they are overjoyed to be out there. They've seen the older boys for years in the halls in their jerseys so they're excited for every practice and game. They have been fired up every day.
Blake: The JV team's attitude and enthusiasm towards improving is what I love about coaching this group. They were not hyper focused on the overall win/lose record throughout the season—the focus instead was having fun, learning, working hard, and working towards a common goal with friends.
Stoler: Each game day they are eager to get out on the field and win or lose they are all having fun and building valuable skills and friendships along the way.
Bernard: The most important thing this season was to be together, to enjoy the park, be honest and kind with each other and to learn that it does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
Harwood: The feeling of that opening win against Trevor Day (4-0) was so special and where we began to mesh as a squad. We basically didn’t know what to do with ourselves because we were so happy, and it had been such a long time since experiencing a sporting victory.
