By: Jessica Cha
Section Editor

While most Peddie students were enjoying their last week of sleeping in late, lounging around, and eating home-cooked meals, the athletic center was buzzing with activity with fall preseason athletes. Starting August 25, the soccer, field hockey, cross country and tennis teams began preparing for their upcoming season through workouts, practices and leadership seminars. Football players arrived a week earlier.

This year, Peddie introduced a morning leadership and health and wellness program to the schedule, followed by the afternoon practices. Director of Athletics Jim Domoracki led most morning seminars concerning the importance of being a leader in a team, and how to properly maintain nutrition needed for the vigor of sports. Julie Ammary, the director of the Lehigh University Athletics Leadership Academy, visited one morning to teach the athletes how to be an appropriate leader and role model for the rest of the team.

“I think the leadership program definitely encouraged me to step up as a leader, but the program could have been shorter with less lectures and more interactive activities that require moving around,” said Julia Hu ’17, a member of the tennis team.

Although the players spent the majority of the day practicing and attending lectures, they had most of the night to relax in and out of the dorms. Trips to the bowling alley, Target, and the mall filled the evening hours designated for team bonding. According to Rachel Macnow ’17, a member of soccer team, the team played a mashup of Guess Who? and 20 Questions to break the ice, and ended the week with a scavenger hunt.

“Team bonding was great because it was fun and spontaneous. We got to make a fool out of ourselves, but we did it together, as a team,” Macnow said.

With preseason and the first weeks of school behind the teams, all look forward to the MAPL league action starting on Hill Day, Oct. 10.