defining success
This is a story about opportunity, success, and, above all, victory in and beyond the athletic arena.
Only…it’s not the kind of story you might expect.
Please read on.
Collegiate’s boys’ varsity basketball team, 11-10 a year ago, began pre-season workouts in mid-November with no returning starters.
Competing with an inexperienced crew in the toughest independent school league in the state, Coach Alex Peavey knew full well that wins could come infrequently and that his greatest challenge would be keeping his guys’ eyes on the prize, whatever that prize might be.
Turns out he was right on the first count, but on the second, little could he have imagined.
“Success this year was defined on a much larger premise than just winning games,” said Peavey, who’s coached the Cougars for eight seasons.
“We defined ourselves not by the light bulbs on the scoreboard but by how we played every single night.”
Now, before we go further, let’s be perfectly clear.
Winning is important.
To you.
To me.
To the guys who never flinched even when faced with opposition which some might consider daunting.
Certainly to their coach, who is as enlightened as he is competitive.
“Do I want to win? Yes!” Peavey said. “Just never at the expense of our integrity.”
Therein lay the foundation and benchmark for the season.
This past fall, Grayson Thornton, the Honor Council chairman and basketball team co-captain, addressed an Upper School assembly with the message: No one can take your integrity unless you willingly give it away.
The words resonated so strongly with Peavey that they became a rallying cry that continued throughout the season.
A case in point occurred in the Jacobs Gym the third day of practice.
“We ran a drill that emphasized toughness and accountability on defense, rebounding, and physical but legal play, ” Peavey explained.
“I was standing along the baseline. There were people watching from the doorways to the locker rooms and from the balcony.
“They were on their way home, on their way to the shower, on the way to get their uniforms for the upcoming season, but they’d stopped to watch, but the guys didn’t know anybody was watching.
“They didn’t save this fire, this fight, this pride for games. They did it from the beginning, when the scoreboard wasn’t even on.”
In the first scrimmage, James River jumped to an 18-0 lead before the Cougars gained their bearings.
As the season rolled on, they battled relentlessly and without compromise or excuse against teams with an unprecedented breadth and depth of talented athletes, many bound for college programs.
The results, at least on the scoreboard, were predictable.
The Cougars finished 3-20 with wins over Atlee, Colonial Heights, and Norfolk Academy and a few close calls along the way.
Though in recent years, Collegiate has won the Henrico Christmas Tournament championship and earned signature victories over John Marshall when the Justices were ranked first in Central Virginia and perennial power Highland Springs in the Times-Dispatch Invitational, Peavey found great value in latest journey.
“After those (high-profile) games,” he said, “you get these wonderful calls, emails, and messages saying, ‘Great job. You made us proud.’
“This year, after quite a few scoreboard losses, I got more calls and texts from current students, alumni, teachers, parents thanking me, thanking our players for how they represented Collegiate.”
If you know Peavey, you understand that he’ll always deflect credit to his athletes, even though he’s the mastermind, the tactician, the motivator, the glue.
“What really stood out was the guys’ character in the midst of adversity,” he said.
“It starts with impeccable kids. Every team, I believe, has fight in it. The question is, does the context of the experience suppress fight or bring out competitive fire?”
The Cougars played their final game at Christchurch.
The Seahorses, who later that week won their third Prep League title in four years, are a talented squad possessed of speed, quickness, athleticism, and a lethal touch from behind the arc.
Final score: Christchurch 49, Collegiate 47 in double overtime.
“We never had a bad day, never took a day off on the court or in the weight room,” Peavey said. “No one dropped his head.
“It was validation of what Grayson said at the beginning of the year.
“I’m a better coach because of this year and because of the guys’ approach to every single game. I now have an affirmed understanding of the definition of success.”
