Peddie’s fall sports teams have had wonderful seasons, learning from challenges and persevering to find success on the court, field and course. Now, the ultimate test has arrived: Peddie-Blair Day 2025 is almost here, and athletes have been hard at work preparing for the latest chapter in the schools’ historic, spirited rivalry. The falcons, defending champions of the Kelley-Potter Cup, are set to travel to Blair Academy on November 8. Will the Falcons prevail over the Buccaneers? Read on to learn what the student body has to say about each matchup.
What event, in your opinion, will be the most exciting to watch?
Eleven points are available in this year’s contest, but only 10 teams are set to compete this Saturday. JV girls tennis sets the tone with an earlier match day (November 3) held on Blair’s turf. Though the team cannot enjoy in-person support, students are sure to be cheering them on from afar. Which matchup on Blair Day itself, though, is the Peddie community most hyped for?
Over a quarter of student respondents selected the most popular pick, varsity football, as the most highly anticipated game of the day. Varsity girls tennis was the second highest selection with 20% of respondent votes. Varsity boys soccer came in a close third.
All three teams were chosen for different reasons. Football is notoriously thrilling because it is the final event of the day and pulls almost every attendee into the crowd. Several students also expressed the opinion that football is the best sport to watch in general. Various respondents who selected varsity tennis referenced the team’s consistent performances and show of talent; girls’ tennis has a reputation for being surefire winners on Blair Day, and they certainly put on a good show throughout each match. Similarly, multiple people mentioned that the varsity boys soccer team has been having a strong season this year, which has heightened anticipation for their matchup against Blair.
Predictions & Season Info
Respondents were asked to assign each competing athletic team a number 1-10 based on their thoughts about how likely the athletes were to win against Blair.
Average Rating*:
Varsity Girls Tennis – 8.73 (W)
JV Girls Tennis** – 8.01 (W)
Varsity Girls Soccer – 6.60 (W/T)
JV Girls Soccer – 6.36 (W/T)
Varsity Boys Soccer – 6.57 (W/T)
JV Boys Soccer – 5.30 (W/T)
Varsity Field Hockey – 6.31 (W/T)
JV Field Hockey – 5.97 (W/T)
Varsity Football – 3.65 (L)
Boys Cross Country – 8.09 (W)
Girls Cross Country – 7.91 (W)
*based on 92 student responses with double the weight placed on answers where an athlete rated their own team.
**Note: At the time of writing, the JV girls tennis match has not happened.
Varsity and JV Girls** Tennis
Both varsity and JV have had impressive seasons, with varsity boasting a 14-2 win-loss streak and JV 9-3 (and one tie). Varsity had the highest percentage of 10 out of 10 confidence rating from respondents (71.7%), and JV had the third highest percentage (44.6%). Additionally, the two teams had the lowest votes for ratings 1-5 out of all of the sports. For the most part, the tennis players who responded to the survey reflected similar confidence levels.
Varsity and JV Girls Soccer
Votes for the girls soccer teams were more evenly split, with varsity having a slightly higher average confidence rating than JV. On average, both teams’ self-confidence ratings were lower than their average rating, but it should be noted that responding team members represented less than 5% (varsity) and just over 20% (JV) of the entire team.
Varsity and JV Boys Socce
Similar to the girls, poll results for varsity and JV boys soccer indicated mixed expectations. For JV, ratings were fairly evenly distributed across the board, but the Peddie community had a noticeably higher confidence in the varsity team. Boys soccer athletes had quite diverse prospects regarding their upcoming performance, with some putting that they would definitely win and others that they would definitely or likely lose.
Varsity and JV Girls Field Hockey
Both field hockey teams had evenly distributed ratings as well. Like the soccer teams, they projected a tentatively positive outcome with an average rating between 5 and 7 out of 10. Every responding member of the JV team rated themselves 5-10, indicating confidence in their ability to emerge victorious against the Buccaneers. Varsity, on the other hand, was less sure of a win; ratings ranged from 3-6 with an average of 3.8.
Cross Country
While many teams have sparked mixed opinions on Blair Day outcomes, Peddie’s cross country program remains a favorite to win important points for Peddie. Girls and boys cross country will run together but be scored separately, meaning that two points are up for grabs this Saturday. The boys and girls teams secured the 3rd and 4th highest 10 out of 10 confidence ratings, respectively. Slightly higher ratings were given to the boys, but both groups had an overall average of about 8 out of 10, and similar confidence levels were reported by the athletes themselves.
Varsity Boys Football
The Blair Day football game is both extremely exciting and nerve-wracking due to the weight it has historically had on the outcome of the competition as a whole. While the average confidence rating for the varsity team was significantly lower than that of other competing teams, varsity football athletes who submitted responses reported self-confidence levels between 7 and 10 out of 10.
According to student respondents, this year’s Peddie-Blair Day competition is likely to be fraught with close games and tight matchups, but the community is hopeful that its blue and gold players will pull through to victory. Make sure to witness what are sure to be incredible matches, games and races this Saturday at Blair Academy!
About the Survey
This survey was conducted through Google Forms with a total of 92 distinct student responses, which is a response rate of roughly 17%. The survey followed a generally open-response format; however, it utilized multiple choice selection with a write-in option to facilitate ease of graph depiction. This may have influenced the results of the survey by providing visible selections as students completed the survey. Additionally, student answers may have veered towards a slightly optimistic trend due to association bias. At least one member of each competing team responded to the survey; double the weight was placed during calculation of averages on answers where an athlete was rating their own team. All direct quotes were used with explicit permission from the person quoted.
*JV Football was erroneously included as an event option on the form. Data related to JV Football was excluded from the article.
