water polo – The Friar Files

October 10, 2019October 11, 2019

25 Years of Friars Playing Water Polo ‘Down Under’

This past June, members of the Fenwick boys’ team made another splash in Australia, where they studied and competed in cricket, footy and, of course, pool-polo!

By Kyle Perry

The Dominican shield logos of the Blackfriars Priory School in Australia (left) and Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL, USA.

At a Dominican conference about 30 years ago, so the story goes, two Dominican priests — both presidents of their all-boys, Dominican-sponsored schools (the only all-boys Dominican schools in their respective countries) — overheard each other bragging about the competitiveness of their water polo teams. Blackfriars Priory School, located in Prospect, a suburb of Adelaide, Australia, already had a “world tour” in the works with stops in China, France, England, New York, Los Angeles and Waikiki. Both presidents were determined to put a quick stop in Chicago on the itinerary. So, in 1992, the first group of Blackfriars boys and school representatives arrived at Fenwick as part of their world tour.

Mr. Harmer (center) flanked by the eight Aussie school boys at Fenwick this past May.

Since then, Blackfriars has visited Fenwick four times while Fenwick has visited Blackfriars three times. In addition to these water-polo exchanges, there have been two students from each school who participated in student exchanges, and two teachers participated in one six-month teacher exchange. There’s even a marriage in the exchange’s history; and in 2016, a Fenwick alumna and a Blackfriars old scholar welcomed their first child into the world!

Australia means a lot to me. When I think of Australia, I often think of my father [Coach Dave Perry], who as I am writing this, passed away eight years ago today. When I was seven, my family spent the entire summer traveling the continent. I returned again after college when my sister was studying there. My parents had already been in Australia for several weeks and eventually joined us for the end of the trip as part of one of our last big family vacations. When I think of these two trips, I am reminded of how much I love my family and how much I miss my dad.

The late, great Coach Dave Perry first took his Fenwick boys (below) “Down Under” 25 years ago.

“So, do you want to go to Australia … with our kids … and a bunch of high school boys?”

When the 2016 exchange occurred, my wife and I were realizing the joys of parenting a three-year-old and a one-year-old. Australia would have to wait. My sister, alumna Elizabeth Timmons ’04, a science teacher and aquatics coach at Fenwick, headed up the 2016 trip. In 2019, realizing that parenting had not really gotten any easier now that my son was six and my daughter was four, I figured why not give this a shot. My wife needed a little more convincing. Thankfully, she gave the green light, and the Perry family, along with our seven new “sons” (Nathan Krippner ’19, Wil Gurski ’21, Peter Buinauskas ’21, Liam McCarthy ’21, Owen Krippner ’21, Caden Gierstorf ’21 and Ethan Wyles ’22) soon found ourselves on the longest direct flight out of Chicago to Auckland, New Zealand. From there, another short flight brought us to our final destination, Adelaide, South Australia. After 26 hours of travel, our host families greeted us at the Adelaide airport; the Fenwick boys went with their host families, and my family went with our host family, Sue and Jon Harmer.

The Friars “Down Under” with the Perry children.

School in the summer?

We met outside the St. Dominic statue at Blackfriars Priory School (BPS) at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 11th, for our first day of school, a tradition we maintained every day that the boys went to class. School started each day at 8:40 a.m. with home group. Students then attended three classes before having a 20-minute recess. Following recess, students had two more classes and then lunch. After lunch, students finished up their day with their final two classes.

BPS has an open campus, and since winter temperatures typically fluctuate between the fifties and the sixties, a full hour of the school day is spent outside! Our first day also coincided with Nathan Krippner’s 18th birthday, so we gathered together a large group for the traditional happy birthday song. In addition to attending classes, Blackfriars arranged for our boys to practice some cricket and Aussie Rules Football, or footy as they would say. Our boys thought challenging their Aussie hosts in basketball would be a good idea; no one on the Fenwick side probably wants to remember that game. In addition to the boys attending classes, my wife, a teacher too, and I had opportunities to observe several classes. My son, Ryan, had a blast becoming best friends with the 17 other boys in his year-one class, and my daughter, Nora, enjoyed attending Blackfriars’ Coed Early Learning Centre.

January 10, 2019February 5, 2019

Guest Blog: FRIARS FOR LIFE

A Fenwick father explains why his highly regarded twin daughters — student-athletes Caroline and Cecilia Jenkins ’19 — are staying put at Fenwick instead of transferring to an elite, East Coast prep school.

By Paul Jenkins ’81

I can’t tell you how I felt when the call came in. I knew it was coming, and yet I hesitated to pick up the phone when I saw the number in my caller ID. One of the country’s premier boarding schools* was calling to offer my twin daughters scholarships for their senior year. Juniors at Fenwick, they needed only to say ‘yes’ to be carried away into the ivy-covered embrace of East Coast privilege.

They’re hockey players, and the head coach at the prep school had been recruiting them for years. We’d been to visit the school several times. The coach had come to watch them play in tournaments around the U.S. and Canada. My wife and I had always said ‘no;’ we couldn’t see sending our youngest off to boarding school.

But the truth is, we all love that school. Imagine Hogwarts, filled with students who open every door; who greet every stranger by looking them in the eye and smiling; who almost uniformly go on to elite schools and then achieve greatness in life. Centuries of intellectual and athletic prowess seem to cling to the old stone walls of the place. The list of alumni reads like who’s who of American politics, literature and industry.

And we love the coach. He’s one of the most impressive people we’ve ever known. His athletes and his students adore him. We’d love to have our girls play for him.

I hung up the phone and told them it was official: They’d been tendered an offer and were on their way east. I was proud. I was sort of shocked. I was a little sad. My youngest would be moving away a year early.

But the girls said ‘no.’

They couldn’t hold back their tears. They choked on those tears and it took both of them, together, to say, “We want to stay at Fenwick.” The floodgates opened:

They named teachers they wanted to thank at graduation.
They talked about their teammates — both hockey and water polo — and what they wanted to achieve with them as seniors.
They talked about classmates, coaches, carpools, dances, school plays, lunch-table discussions, the German Club, the Write Place and all the little things they’d be leaving behind if they took the offer.

All of those things, together, are the Fenwick experience.

I didn’t need to ask if they needed time to think about it.

In half-year’s time (God willing) there will be a couple of twin girls who will earn their diplomas with their classmates in the Fenwick class of 2019. Their parents will likely continue to reflect on what might have been, but I don’t think they will. They made a mature, informed decision, and they’ve never looked back.

Fenwick is in their blood.

* The Hill School is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a 200-acre campus located approximately 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Annual tuition is $59,050 (for boarding students) for the 2018-19 academic year.

Continue reading “Guest Blog: FRIARS FOR LIFE”

August 30, 2018August 24, 2018

Fenwick Athletes Find Success at the American Water Polo National State Challenge

It was a productive summer showing for polo-playing Friars in the pool!

By Kyle Perry ’01, Head Boys’ Varsity Water Polo Coach

For the second year in a row, the American Water Polo National State Challenge, July 12, 13, 14, and 15, was held at Fenwick High School’s state-of-the-art Dan O’Brien Natatorium. “We were excited to return to Chicago for the 2018 National State Challenge,” stated AWP Director of Membership Damon Newman. “Last year’s tournament was a success with many competitive games played. We are looking forward to the potential participation of teams from throughout the country.” Teams from Illinois, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee all participated in the high school boys and high school girls tournament.

On the girls’ side, the Windy City Water Polo team consisted of returning members of the Fenwick girls’ water polo team, which finished 2nd in the IHSA State Tournament last spring. After the first four games, the team entered their championship game undefeated. The team had outscored opponents 68 to 25 in the first four games with wins over Chicago Water Polo Club 24-7, Pittsburgh AQ 15-9, Red Hawks 12-3 and NIPC 17-6. The championship game saw a back and forth battle between Greenwich AQ and Windy City. Though Windy City jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, Greenwich AQ was able to get two more goals before the end of the first quarter. The second and third quarter were much the same, ending in a 4-4 tie and then 7-7.

After five minutes of scoreless action in the 4^th, Greenwich AQ found the back of the net to go up 8-7. Two Windy City goals in the final minute of play sealed the deal and gave the 2018 National State Challenge Championship to Windy City. The 2018 National State Challenge Champions, all returning Fenwick student athletes, were Paulina Correa, Kassy Rodriguez, Harper Daniels, Xonhane Medina, Alyssa Sayatovic, Payton Nefur, Jorie Silvis, Sam Rodriguez, Cici Jenkins, Tegwyn Hollenbach, Ellie Kaiser and Caroline Doyle.

On the boys’ side, Fenwick boys found themselves on opposite teams fighting for the championship. Windy City Water Polo, which consisted of many Fenwick student-athletes, managed its way to the championship game with victories over LAW 12-11, Cincinnati Marlines 18-6, Vulture 15-10 and Chicago Parks Green 15-6. The Vulture win in the semi-finals was particularly satisfying as Vulture won that semi-final game last year at the National State Challenge 6-3. Vulture, a team made up of mainly athletes from Naperville Central also bested the Fenwick team the last two years in the state tournament, including last spring’s IHSA Championship Game. Both schools will likely be in competition for a state championship in 2019!

The Chicago Park District team also went undefeated heading into the championship game. In the final game, the Windy City boys had many chances but could not capitalize on the numerous exclusion fouls called on the Chicago Park District. Going two for 18 on the power play hurt the team’s chances of hoisting the championship trophy. At the end of one, Windy City trailed 2-1. This lead grew for the Chicago Park District, which was led by Friars Ivan Soto ’18, Ramses Flores ’19, and Alejandro Perez ’18 to 5-1 at halftime. Each team scored twice in third period.

Chicago Park District stretched the lead to 9-4. Two final goals by Windy City ended the game 9-6. Windy City was led by Fenwick’s Payton Comstock ’19, Dan Lynch ’19, Nate Fisher ’19, Alex Figus ’19, Chris Magyla ’19, Manny Ruiz ’19, Jack Nettleton ’20, Dan Bajda ’20, Diego Sahagun ’20, Brian Moore ’21, Wil Gurksi ’21, Pete Buinauskas ’21, and Caden Giesdorf ’21. Comstock was named to the All-Tournament Team.

In addition to a 2nd-place finish in the American Water Polo National State Championship, the largely Fenwick-based Windy City Water Polo club went 10-0 in the high school boys’ summer league.