1. By JERRY LARSON
An Interview with Two Legendary Coaches:
Dick "Lefty" Marr and Dick Flood, the latter known to his friends as
Floodo, have been good friends and lifelong coaching rivals. In the I950s, the two
had been roommates at Williams College, and, prior to that, had competed against
each other as high school students - Flood at Noble and Greenough School
(Massachusetts), Marr at Governor Dummer Academy (now The Governor's
Academy, Massachusetts). Upon graduating from Williams in I957, both entered
the teaching/coaching profession in independent schools and spent two decades
at rival schools - Marr at Milton Academy (Massachusetts), Flood at Noble and
Greenough. After building their respective coaching careers and establishing the
highly regarded Flood-Marr Tournament in hockey, Flood went on to serve as
headmaster at Salisbury School (Connecticut) for I6 years.
Marr went on to serve as head at Aspen Country Day School
(Colorado) for four years and then as dean, teacher, and
coach at Tabor Academy (Massachusetts) for I9 years.
Dick Flood is now retired from independent schools,
and working as an educational consultant with schools on
master planning, college counseling, faculty, and leader
ship development. Dick Marr is also retired from inde
pendent schools, and is a practicing lawyer, mediator, and
educational consultant.
As an athletic trainer at Tabor in I985, I first met Dick
Marr, then the dean of students and coach of the newly
formed girls' ice hockey program at the school. Later that
winter, I met Dick Flood, who was watching a lower-level
hockey game at Noble, cheering on the players by name.
Over the years, I'd get to know and admire both coaches,
and, when I went on to become head ofCheshire Academy
50 I N 0 E pEN 0 E N T 5 C H 0 0 L
2. (Connecticut) in 1999, they remained
for me models of what good coaches
should be: concerned about the indi
vidual first, team second; focused on
character and skill development; and
continually learning something new
to share with their students, to name a
few of their qualities.
The following conversation topk
place this past fall as these two inde
pendent school graduates, coaches,
and school leaders reflected on athlet
ics at independent schools over the last
50 years.
Larson: First of all, I understand that
you had a college reunion recently.
What was it like reconnecting with
your classmates and teammates?
Flood: Lefty and I just had a mini
reunion at Williams and well over 50
percent of the guys who were there
were our teammates from football, ice
hockey, and baseball.
Marr: It was like it was yesterday,
not 50 years ago; we picked up as if
time hadn't passed. The connection
was there. We share a common back
ground, a lifelong experience.
Flood: It's not surprising when you
think about it. You spend, on average,
three hours a week together in a class.
SUM MER 2 0 0 7 51
3. and learning
On ateam, we had two hours ofpractice
a day plus usually two games a week;
we spent hours on the bus together.
After practice, we'd often go to dinner
together, or study together. There was
a natural connection of both time and
space that created the experience. You
rarely, ifever, get that in a class. So, not
only did we learn about the sport, we
learned about life and each other.
Larson: You two have spent over 50
years involved in independent school
education as teachers and adminis
trators. Given your perspective, how
has athletics evolved at independent
schools?
Flood: My father was a schoolmas
ter at Noble and Greenough, where
I began the seventh grade in 1947.
Everyone played sports. New England
independent schools were modeled
after the British boarding schools.
Athletics were just another part of the
day; there wasn't a choice and you just
didn't question it. There were very few
options when we were in schooL but
there were different levels, from club/
intramurals to the varsity interscho
lastic team. Schedules were uniform;
math was every day at 8:00 am and you
marched through the academic day to
the afternoon when everyone - stu
dents, teachers, headmasters - went
to the athletic fields.
Marr: Things have obviously changed.
But I believe athletics at independent
schools then and today share the same
essential purpose: to promote excel
lence in the physical sense as a balance
for the cognitive focus ofthe academic
program.
As a former boarding school dean, I
thinl< ofathletics as a way to keep young
hands and minds busy. Idle hands and
minds can lead to creative activities that
aren't always legal at school! I also be
lieve that athletics promote school spirit
and morale. There is a lot oftruth to the
saying, "as the football team goes, so
does the school year." In my experience,
ifthe football team had a great fall, inev
itably, the school had a great year. When
teams do well, there is a positive spirit
and an excitement. I also think you gain
more social relationships/friendships
in the athletic arena than you do in
other areas ofschool life.
When you specialize, it is not what you're gaining, it is
more about what you are losing - the socialization with
a slightly different peer group, a different coaching model,
and seeing things in a different context than you would if
you played a variety of sports each year.
Flood: There are few sports other than
football where you can have such a
large, diverse team. Players ofdiffering
skill levels can play football because of
the requirements ofthe many different
positions. When they go their separate
ways into the many areas ofthe schooL
be it as a freshman or senior, their
shared experiences on the field are
carried forward into the total picture of
school life.
Marr: More often than not, when we
were in school and for the first decade
or so of our playing careers, the teach
ers were on the field with the students,
often coaching in the football program.
Today, there seem to be more part
time coaches coming from outside the
school. The "triple-threat" - teacher,
coach, dormparent - is hard to come
by today.
Flood: I still recall playing football and
looking up during practice and seeing
the headmaster and assistant headmas
ter on the field coaching. Of course,
schools change; athletics change. To
day, there are so many offerings, like
lifetime sports, outdoor activities, arts,
music, theater, dance, environmental
projects, and community service.
Marr: Don't forget speech and debate!
I believe students gain as many advan
tages from competing against other
schools in debate as they do playing on
an athletic team.
Flood: In looking at independent
schools, athletics have expanded
greatly over the years, while, for the
most part, the academic programs, on
the surface, have not. You may have
more disciplines represented in the
classroom, but look at the options in
the afternoon athletic program.
There has been an explosion of
afternoon offerings: schools have
gone from having nine or ten sports to
programs that have 20 or 30 different
sports options during the year. On the
all-school administrative/leadership
side, we have also seen the expan
sion of titles and duties - deans of
students, deans of faculty, residential
life deans, class deans, community
4. service coordinators, learning resource
specialists, technology coordinators,
counselors, parent relations coordina
tors, and athletic trainers. There is just
so much more going on today, both on
and offthe field.
larson: You've identified the expanding
offerings and support systems within
schools. How has the role of parents
and others influenced independent
schools, especially athletics?..
Marr: The role of parents in indepen
dent schools has changed too, as has
specialization in sports, which has had
a big effect on both athletics and school
leadership. When we were in school,
parents weren't directly involved. They
supported the school and the teachers
but they didn't ask a lot of questions.
Today, for a variety of reasons, there is
more of a sense of entitlement among
parents. An independent school used
to be an end in and of itself; you went
to a school and you gained valuable
experiences, friendships, knowledge
- and that was the focus. You then
went on to college, which was another
"experience in and of itself." Today,
we've become a means to an end, not
the end. Schools are now passageways
to college, and, as teachers, we're stew
ards of the kids on their way through
our schools to college.
Flood: Parents have certainly upped the
ante. In our early days, they never chal
lenged or questioned schools, teachers,
or coaches. Specialization entered our
schools in the late 1970s, early 1980s.
At Noble and Greenough, I recall
vividly the parents of a young tennis
player taking their child out ofschool to
practice, play, and compete at outside
clubs and tournaments throughout the
year. From there, I recall ice hocl<ey
being the next sport to draw students
away from the school, followed by soc
cer, lacrosse, and basketball.
Marr: In New England, the success of
Bobby Orr in the 1970S led to a hockey
revolution at independent schools. This
often involved summer hockey camps,
requiring a strong financial commit
ment from parents. Naturally, this in
creased their expectation for some type
ofpayback for their investment.
When I was in Aspen Country Day
School in the 1980s, skiing was the
dominant sport. I recall some of our
skiers going off for seven to ten days
to a competition. The expectation was
that they would keep up with their
studies. Interestingly, when the skiers
returned to school, they often did bet
ter than their classmates on tests. My
sense was that there was an apprecia
tion on the part of the skiers, who felt
obligated to give their all to their teach
ers and the school for the privilege of
competing at a national level.
The media, driven by advertising and ratings, create the
athletic role models for our youth, almost always stress
vt: negative. This puts even more pressure on the
independent schools to fight back to impose a contrary
value system.
Somewhere around the mid-1980s
there seemed to be a switch; instead
of the school influencing athletics,
parents now were in control. That oc
curred in financial aid, too, as parents
of gifted athletes played our schools
against each other.
larson: This is when many more ath
letic options outside of school started
to become available.
Flood: Yes. When I was head of an
all-boys school, we had a three-season
athletic commitment. Back when Lefty
and I were students and even when we
were starting out (as teachers), the only
athletic options were the school's ath
letic offerings. Now you'll see students
race to the waiting car after their game
at school to head off to some outside
team practice, game, or tournament.
Schools used to manage the sports,
now outside organizations (AA U,
developmental programs, elite teams)
manage our school sports in the form
of preSSUIe to perform year round.
Marr: These outside programs are
literally demanding year-round partici
pation. At some tournaments and in
vitational camps, there is the promise
that scouts and coaches will be there
to watch - and they are there. These
events are great for coaches; they can
go to one location and see athletes
from around the country in one spot.
In the past, they'd have to travel hun
dreds of miles to dozens of towns just
to see half the talent they can now see
in one weekend.
Flood: It's somewhat embarrassing to
see all these outside influences, and
the money involved today. This is a
big part of how coaches' jobs have
changed, and so has the role of the
school. Just the other day, I spoke with
a coaching friend who had lost two
of his leading players, co-captains, to
an outside program. They left a very
prestigious independent school to at
tend a public high school and play on
an elite team. This is happening more
and more at our schools. So, instead
of teaching life-lessons and building
strong friendships, coaches and play
ers now are focused on just keeping
the group intact and handling the con
stant pressure to perform, to win. If a
player or a parent isn't happy with the
kid's playing time, there is some coach
somewhere who will encourage the
kids to come over to his or her team.
larson: For the most part, you've been
SUM MER 2 0 0 7 53
5. talking about athletics in traditional
independent schools. But there have
been other schools that have come into
existence primarily for athletics.
Marr: Yes. In the last 20 years, schools
have been built around athletic pro
grams. When you're talking about sur
vival as an organization, sports can be a
defining element for a school. Just last
year, 60 Minutes on CBS profiled an
independent boarding school that was
using basketball to define itself. We've
seen schools do it with ice hockey and,
to a lesser degree, soccer. Of course,
you have performing arts schools and
schools that focus on environmental
programs. So, as a way to survive and
build a school program, there is a role
for athletics as a signature program.
Flood: In the 1970s, there were chang
ing socioeconomic forces that began
this evolution, for the overall good of
independent schools. Back when Lefty
and I were students and just starting
out as teachers, our schools were strik
ingly homogeneous communities. It
was during that period of time when
independent schools began to diversifY
socially, and rush to coeducation. The
trend was wonderful!
Marr: At that time, with financial aid
to diversifY our campuses, Floodo
and I were able to provide kids an op
portunity to attend our schools, so of
course we recruited. "Recruiting," for
us, was a word-of-mouth process, often
through parents. Inevitably, parents of
players and former students/players
were on the lookout for a good student
who could contribute on the field and
in the classroom.
Flood: It is fair to say we probably con
tributed to the climate of independent
school athletics today. For me, the
change in so many traditions and atti
tudes could not be ignored or denied in
the 1970s, and it was a turning point.
I remember teaching a class on the
"Wide-World - Sports and Society."
I asked Kathy Delaney-Smith, who
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taught at Westwood High School and
is now the women's basketball coach
at Harvard, to come speak about Title
IX and equity. Her passion caught my
attention in so many ways and opened
my eyes up to another world ofathletic
possibilities.
Ithink we responded to the moment
and tried to contribute to the changing
times to diversifY our schools and our
teams. Our teams played a significant
part in opening doors and to making a
difference in young people's lives.
Marr: I agree. I also believe our attitude
was to bring these kids in and expose
them to the variety of experiences
independent schools have to offer.
So, yes, we recruited, but we also did
everything possible to see that kid play
other sports, do other things. I was
also very conscious that I needed to be
a better classroom teacher, which took
the pressure offme as a coach. It made
me think about having kids who could
do the work in school. What I see today
is more part-time coaches who are us
ing independent schools as a stepping
stone to a college coaching job, not a
lifelong avocation. With that change,
you compound the mohnting pressure
to perform and to win.
Flood: Surrounding and beneath all
these exciting changes, I know that
Lefty would agree that we continued to
respect and honor the academic pro
gram as the essential building block
for the school.
larson: Over the last two decades,
54 I N 0 E PEN 0 E N T 5 c H 0 0 L
6. there has been more emphasis on spe
cialization. What are your thoughts on
this trend?
Marr: Today's specialized athletes don't
understand the transfer of skills. Es
sentially, all ball/net sports have the
same concepts. I once spoke at an ice
hockey coaching clinic in Madison,
Wisconsin, and used most ofthe prin
ciples from a book on British soccer. I
substituted puck for ball, stick for foot,
check for marie It was a successful talk
and generated a lot of discussion on
coaching skills.
When you specialize, it is not what
you're gaining; it is more about what
you are losing - the socialization with
a slightly different peer group, a differ
ent coaching model and seeing things
in a different context than you would if
you played a variety ofsports each year.
Playing multiple sports is a lot like
writing a research paper: you gather
different resources, picking and choos
ing what makes sense and influences
your thinking. You develop ideas that
work for you.
Flood: Athletics, at its greatest level,
allows a young person to discover and
deal with both success and failure.
Athletic competition is one of life's
greatest teachers. Its lessons, along
with the many relationships young
people develop through athletics, are
truly life-long gifts. I can state for
certain that athletics prepared me to
be a headmaster. When you announce
major news to the school, or handle a
crisis, there are so many similarities
to facing a challenging moment or big
game. You have been there if you've
competed on a team.
Marr: I learned quite a bit later in my
career when I started the first girls'
teams in ice hockey and softball at
Tabor. I learned not only about com
petitiveness, but also letting go and
moving on from a game or a practice. I
am still learning today as a member of
a senior softball team.
Flood: I think, as we look ahead, it
will be important for school heads
to become more involved and join
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together, not just on the sidelines at
games, or haphazardly throughout the
year, but deliberately to meet and dis
cuss athletics at independent schools.
Athletics are unquestionably influenc
ing enrollment; there is a consumer
mentality.
Marr: I also think we need to realize
that athletics is not a means to an
end. It is about the experience and the
fri'endships.
larson: When you look to the future
of athletics in schools, what message
would you like to share with indepen
dent school administrators, faculty,
students, and parents?
Marr: This past November, I had
asked members of the audience at
a "Sportsmanship/Abuse in Athlet
ics" panel discussion if they had
heard of the golfer Paul McGinley.
McGinley is the European Ryder Cup
player who graciously conceded a
40-foot putt to the American rookie
J.J. Henry on the r8th green to al-
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SUM MER 2 0 0 7 55
7. low Henry to halve a match that was
no longer meaningful. Nobody had
heard of him. Then I asked if they
had heard of Terrell Owens, the
troublesome wide receiver for the
Dallas Cowboys. Everyone knew of
him. Therein lies our problem!! The
media, driven by advertising and rat
ings, create the athletic role models
for our youth, almost always stress
ing the negative. This puts even more
pressure on independent schools to
fight back to impose a contrary value
system. Sportsmanship has to be
preached over and over in our athletic
programs and throughout all areas of
school life. If we give in to the exter
nal value system, we will pay for it in
the years to come.
Flood: As we look at the state ofathlet
ics today in independent schools and
contrast it to the experiences over the
past 50 years, my parting message to
the administrators, teachers, coaches,
players, parents, and spectators is
one of both challenge and hope. The
coaches and athletes of today certainly
have brought competition and the skill
level of independent school athletics
to an exciting level of play. I am con
cerned that this high level of competi
tion has come at the price of eroding
our independent school communities
and would like to issue a challenge
to all schools, especially trustees and
heads, to revisit the NAIS Principles
of Good Practice for Athletics and rec
ognize the intrinsic value of athletics
as contributing to the development of
the "whole" student within our school
environment.
Marr: Amen to that. It's clear that
there is something very special about
athletics when done right. Obviously,
things change in our culture and
we make adjustments, but, when it
comes to sports, we need to think al
ways about how we connect athletics
to the overall mission of the school.
If we do this, we can help students
develop skills and friendships that
last a lifetime.
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Larson: It is also important that we
remember that the athletic arena in
independent schools has always been
considered an extension of the class
room, and there should be a call for
a national dialogue in independent
schools to reclaim athletics for the
student-athletes, the pursuit of excel
lence, and to be truly counterculture
with our school athletics serving as the
model for amateur athletics in the 21st
century.
Jerry Larson, former head ofschool at Cheshire Acad·
emy (Connecticut) and former director ofathletics at
Tabor Academy (Massachusetts), is an educational
consultant, atrustee ofThe Forman School (Connecti·
cut) and the spouse ofan independent school teacher
and parent ofan independent school student.
t 617.492. 2200
f 617,876,9775
www.hmfh.com
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56 J N 0 E PEN 0 E N T S C H 0 0 L
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