On any given day, groups of students can be found scattered throughout Parker’s gyms, on the field, in the hallways, and in surrounding parks, practicing and preparing for their upcoming games. Parker is home to 54 different sports teams, ranging from co-ed track and field to single-gender soccer teams.  Ten of these 54 teams are comprised of middle-school students.

Each season, Parker employs anywhere from ten to twenty middle school coaches. “We want somebody who knows the X’s and O’s of the game and who has been a coach before,” Athletic Director Bobby Starks said. “We not only want people who fit with our culture but also have experience with the age group they are dealing with.”

Starks not only runs the Athletic Department but is also in charge of hiring coaches for each team. Starks believes that the best coach has experience with both the sport and with kids.  “Sometimes the balance of experience with skill and youth development experiences vary, but if we get someone who has high level experience in both, that is just a home run,” Starks said.  

Each Middle School team has a head coach and an assistant coach. “Because we have two coaches, we match skills,” Starks said. “Sometimes the mix of coaches is someone who is highly experienced in the sport but is newer to coaching, paired with a veteran coach who knows our culture.”

Upper School field hockey player Leila Sheridan began the sport on the sixth grade team.  “I had heard a lot about field hockey and how much people loved it, so I decided to join the team with some of my friends,” Sheridan said.  

In seventh grade, Sheridan was coached by Jerrick McGee, who had no prior experience in playing field hockey. “Even though Jerrick initially did not know much about field hockey, he truly tried his best to better understand the sport and support the players,” Sheridan said. “I remember that he read various books and did research to educate himself on field hockey in general in order for us to better understand it as well. It didn’t really matter that he hadn’t coached considering middle school sports aren’t very competitive and most people are in it for the fun.” 

Sixth-grade Soccer Coach Jonathan Utley has coached soccer at Parker since 1997, coaching 45 different teams. In the past 22 years, Utley has coached Upper School girls’ soccer, both girls’ and boys’ eighth grade soccer, and for the past ten years, has coached sixth grade soccer for the boys’ and girls’ teams. 

Utley has coached sixth grade soccer since 2009 because he believes it is a critical time in the development of the team and players. “Player development is everything, absolutely everything,” Utley said. “I care nothing other than to what extent the player is developing in technical skills, tactical awareness, and in an athletic mindset.”