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There is a deep and rich athletic tradition at Mount Doug that is very impressive when you first experience it. Having arrived at Mount Doug in 1997, I recall watching my first Ram Pep Rally and being blown away by the vocal school pride. This was not just for sports, but also for our dancers and musicians. It just seemed that students liked Mount Doug and were not shy about showing it. At that point, I decided I wanted to be a part of ensuring it continued and I became the Mount Doug Athletic Director. I felt a responsibility to carry on the great work of teachers who had played such a big part of helping create this spirit. People like Stan Gill, Don Puddy, Bill Conconi, Dave Morgan, Monty Fulton, Mary Coutts and Donna Parkinson, just to name a few.
Thanks to the dedication and hard work of thousands of athletes and hundreds of coaches, Mount Doug has created a rich tradition of excellence. Walking in to the Mount Doug gym, you need only look at our Wall of Champions in our gym to see the tremendous success that Mount Doug teams have been achieving for many decades. In fact, many of the athletes currently competing for Mount Doug have parents or even grandparents who used to compete for Mount Doug. In addition, many of our current outstanding coaches used to compete for Mount Doug and are working hard to give back to the school that gave so much to them.
To ensure this spirit remains, we plan student friendly activities that celebrate success but also help break down any student barriers or cliques. Our Pep Rallies have become full scale multi-media events with dancers, videos, live bands, pyrotechnics, fashion shows and audience participation events. Of course, sports success is also always a great way to generate school spirit as was very evident this past year when we had a Championship Rally after our Junior and Senior Football teams and our swimming relay team all won BC titles on the same weekend. The noise in the gym was deafening. This was great for not just for those athletes being recognized, but also for all students as they all felt a part of the excitement and pride. For some new students, that was the day that they learned what is was to be a “Ram”.
I am a firm believer that positive spirit created through sports can go a long way to making the school better in many ways. A sense of school pride can help a student's feeling of attachment to their school and lead to improvement in the classroom. Our participation numbers at Mount Doug continue to be outstanding with over one third of the student body on one of our 26 teams. With the majority of students who attend Mount Doug now out of catchment (not coming from Arbutus Middle School) this is so valuable in helping them feel a part of their new school and to make new friends outside of the classroom. I hear that students say that Mount Doug is an accepting school and I feel our sports teams play a big role in that.
To all current Mount Doug students and new students joining us this fall, I strongly recommend you take the opportunity to experience Mount Doug Pride first hand by joining one of our teams. We continue to have some of the best coaches in Victoria and they are eager to share their expertise and passion for sport with you. Information for all fall sports practices and tryouts will be given to you in your homeroom on the first day of class. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at bjkidd@sd61.bc.ca if you have any questions.
Go Rams,
Mr. Kidd
Mount Doug Athletic Director
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