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In what may well turn out to be the final basketball action of the 2023-24 season, your Spartans travelled to Centennial Regional High School to take part in the annual MacLeod Provincial Tournament. The MacLeod is as storied a tournament as there is, with the inaugural event taking place way back in 1953. 71 years ago! In all that time, Stanstead College has emerged as champions four times (2017-2019, and again last year in 2023). It was a hard tournament to win. But as we’ve said before, worthwhile things are never easy.
“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.” - Andy Bernard, “The Office”
I guess this quote has always made me think a little bit about appreciating the present, but this being my final year in high school, it hits just a little bit harder.
A Grade 11 student from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Noémie Cloutier was the heart, soul and rock of the prep girls hockey team all through last weekend's JWHL playoffs. With the team down two defenders all weekend due to injuries, the team’s captain played every second shift on defence. Not only did she perform her regular duties of shutting down the opposition’s offensive threats, but she also contributed offensively by scoring her first goal of the season in the opening game. She played through the pain of badly bruised ribs and never complained about it. Wanting a championship so badly, she showed up three hours early at 6:00 am to prepare for the big game. The girls could not have pulled it off this weekend without her leadership and unconditional dedication to a team-first attitude. Congratulations, Athlete of the week Noémie Cloutier.
Congratulations to our varsity boys and prep girls hockey teams, both of whom came from behind to earn their respective league championships this past Sunday.
Words are hard to find right now. It is hard to try to write something as if it is in the past, when I want to keep this amazing feeling present, I want to stay in this moment. My sense of joy for our boys, pride for our program and school and personal relief for feeling that our job was done well are all working together to make waking up the last couple days to be extra special.
We humans crave and seek forms of stability, whether it comes from an environment, one or many individuals or even an object. Before Stanstead, I was a 14-year-old girl unaware of what awaited me after the doors of high school shut and even more unaware of what and where I would be living each year of my remaining years of high school. Here’s a little background information: I have been hopping from one place to another since the beginning of my existence. Heading into my Grade 10 year, I wanted to know what the environment of my next three years of high school would look like.
The last RSEQ game of the year, against Le Salesien on their home floor, was one of those games I just don’t like that much, i.e. non-stop full court pressure with loose reffing. Which means our ballhandlers are constantly being ridden downcourt and there is body contact on every single play. Which means every time you have the ball you have two to four hands reaching in to grab it from you with no fear of a foul (in fact, Clara’s father spent most of the game yelling “Hands! Hands!” from the sideline). Which means the game is a haphazard track meet where everything is rushed and improvised and messy, the way basketball is probably played in prison. And the main problem with prison basketball is that you don’t learn very much in terms of technique or strategy. It’s a battle of athleticism. It’s roller derby.
This past weekend, your Stanstead College Spartans travelled to St-Jean-sur-Richelieu to participate in the first of our two most important events of the year, the 2024 Bailly Small Schools Provincial Tournament. As defending champions, and ranked #1 going into the tourney, we were looking to take care of business and bring the championship plaque back home.
This Grade 11 student-athlete from South Korea has been in the curling program for two years. Over time, she has emerged as quite the player. Kayla was a dominant force in the team’s game against Richmond this past week. Coach Planetta describes Kayla as a “smiling assassin” -- taking out opposition stones with a devilish grin on her face. Kayla looks to lead her team as they play for the ETIAC championship tomorrow in North Hatley. For her overall progress and amazing performance this past week, congratulations to Athlete of the Week Kayla Lee.
I can’t say for sure how all of their games have gone this season, but I’m pretty sure that La Ruche, undefeated and undisputed league leaders in RSEQ D3 this season, haven’t had many games as tough as their game against your Stanstead Spartans last Wednesday.
Students in Grades 7, 8 and 9 presented their Science Fair projects at the annual Junior Science Fair on Tuesday evening. The Science Fair has become a tradition at Stanstead College, and it was remarkable to see all the students, parents and teachers interact as the young scientists presented their results to the judges. The following are the winners by grade.
This is my fourth year at Stanstead College, but I still remember the first day when I came to Stanstead.I’m sure people who were here in 2020 would remember what that year was like. It was really different from now due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. Everything was unorganized and unfamiliar. Due to the pandemic, my flight got delayed, and I had to take online classes for the two months of my first year at Stanstead.
I hope it is true when I say that everybody in this room has been shaped by the kindness of another person. Whether this person is a friend, a parent, a sibling, a teacher, or even a stranger, there is no denying the positive impact that kindness leaves on you. And there is also no denying the impact you can leave on the world by simply being nice to someone else.
Athlete of the Week is co-awarded to two linemates from prep girls hockey. Laurie Aubin has been at the top of her game all season and did not disappoint this weekend at the JWHL Challenge Cup. She scored the overtime winner to advance the prep girls to its first championship game in program history. She finished the tournament with 5 goals and 5 assists in 6 games which was good for fourth overall in the tournament. Laurie’s overtime goal was assisted by Zoé Charland, who has been an equal force the entire season. Zoe scored 9 goals and added 3 assists for 12 points in 6 games this weekend and good for second overall in the tournament. Like Gretzky and Messier or Lemieux and Jagr, these two linemates lead on the scoresheet but also with their work ethic and never-quit attitudes. Congratulations, Laurie Aubin and Zoe Charland.
The halftime buzzer goes. The players trudge to the bench, heads down, shoulders slumped. Demoralized. I can’t exactly remember the score, but it was ugly. 36-11 or something like that. It felt like more. Laruche’s full-court press was debilitating, no let-up at all, never letting us get comfortable on offence, and their fast break was killing us. Even if we got a couple bodies back in transition, they would stay in fifth gear, attack downhill and finish anyway, contested or not. Even when we forced them to play in the half court, they dropped threes like it was nothing. They were fast, athletic, deep, they were shooting well, and they were on their home floor. Laruche was rolling. Stanstead was not going to win this game.
At the end of the school year, I will be leaving this place I have called home for the past three years. I will be taking off to this big city called Montreal. I will be living there on my own, leaving my hometown and this small town. I will not lie to you: being on my very own for the first time in a big city like Montreal without my parents brings me a lot of concerns. Will I be able to manage my apartment? Will I be able to find my way around? All those questions I would never ask myself here in Stanstead.
“That was the best team basketball I’ve ever seen you guys play.” – Mr. Andrew Blair, head minor official, giving his thoughts to me after the game.
And he was not wrong. Because not only were we going up against a fast, well-coached Triolet team hellbent on revenge (we’d beaten them 10 days earlier), but Trio full-court presses every second of every game, and we were going to be without our point guard (as Melissa was out with a concussion). Nothing is harder in girls’ basketball than bringing up the ball vs pressure without a true dribbler. Not only is it difficult, it can be demoralizing. I’m not gonna lie, I was concerned coming into this game.
I want to talk about something that all of us students in Quebec struggle with daily during this time of year. The sun comes out late and goes down early, dangerously low temperature where you can’t be outside for more than five minutes without getting frostbite, and on top of that, winter depression.
You know how you feel when you haven’t slept enough. You can’t get up in the morning, you can’t stay awake during class, you have no energy for sports in the afternoon. It feels like you’re not your best self and your only goal is going to sleep as quickly as possible…
Your parents (and your teachers) might have given you lectures about what you should do, and you’ve heard it all before, you know the theory. Nevertheless, I’m here as well to tell you that sleep is really important for your brain and your body in order to perform well. So, try to do it for them if you don’t want to do it for yourself.
A brother of mine, who goes by the name of Anderson Trider, told me this quote in Grade 9: “Ask a question and be dumb for a moment or hold your tongue and be dumb forever.” At the time, I did not understand this quote. I was a young, immature boy who would not get out of his comfort zone. Now, two years later, I understand what he meant.
This Grade 12 student-athlete from Ayer's Cliff, Quebec earned 3 points in two games against a tough Le Boisé opponent on Saturday. The U18 hockey captain followed up these performances by helping lead his team to a 7-3 victory over Frontalière on Monday by scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists. William always plays the game the right way, is a natural leader on and off the ice and is a pleasure to coach. Congratulations, William Towner!
Twelve days ago, in our first game back from the Christmas break, we travelled all the way to Victoriaville to play our worst game of the year versus Le Boise, a listless 33-24 loss. This past Tuesday was our chance at redemption. At home this time.
This past weekend, varsity boys hockey won both of their games, the first against the #3-ranked Kimball Union Academy and the second against New Hampton School. Leading the offensive charge in both games was team captain Jaxon Pierce (Grade 12, Fredericton, NB). Jaxon scored on the first shift of the game against Kimball Union and scored both the first and second goals against New Hampton school on Sunday. Besides finding himself on the scoresheet for 3 goals in 2 games, Jaxon’s work ethic was on full display all weekend. Congratulations, Jaxon!
This past weekend your Spartans travelled to the big city for the annual Montreal Independent Schools Tournament, always a highlight of the year. We were hoping to build upon the progress we made in our last league game vs Salesien, and build we did. We haven’t quite returned to our best form of the season (which was at CAIS last November), but we made real strides.
I spent the first twelve years of my life in the comfort of my parents’ home north of Quebec City, where, I must admit, I had everything I needed on a “silver plate.” My life was pretty easy! The decision to come to Stanstead College in Grade 7 was mine, and my parents fully supported me in that choice.
Well, that was better. Much better. Starting right away with the warmup, we looked faster. More athletic. Ready to go. Passes were crisp, hands were sure and cuts were sharp, the kind where you hear the sneakers squeak on the floor. All of which carried over to the first quarter, and honestly, to the whole game. Last Thursday, we looked like we were moving in quicksand, but this past Tuesday vs Le Salesien we were purposeful for the full 32 minutes.
Charles Genereux of U15 hockey had a tremendous day this past Wednesday at Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire. A Grade 9 student from Lorraine, Quebec, Charles scored the tying goal in the last three minutes of play in the third period, and then, with 54 seconds remaining in the game, he scored the game winner on an outstanding end-to-end rush. The Spartans staged the late-game comeback against a big, strong and fast Cardigan Mountain team to pull off the 3-2 victory. For putting the team on his back, your athlete of the week is the U15 hockey team captain, Charles Généreux.
At the risk of sounding a bit depressing, let's face it, our world can be messed up. Think about it: conflict and war, inequality and poverty, environmental pollution, discrimination, corruption, injustice and the violation of human rights, just to name a few examples. But why are humans driven to cause these outcomes? Is it insatiable greed for power some leaders have, or is it our innate fear of weakness and failure? Either way, our world has a void, a void that will destroy us if it is not filled.
Saturday, December 2, 2023, the CAIS Tournament in Winnipeg. Not only was that the last basketball game your Spartans played before this past Thursday’s RSEQ trip to Le Boise in Victoriaville; that was also the last day the whole team even practiced together. Immediately upon their return from CAIS, our Grade 12s started preparing for exams, i.e. no athletics, just studying.
Returning to your boarding school after the long pause might be a happy event for some, but it’s a drag for many. I’d even say some teachers and staff feel the same about returning after these holiday celebrations. Maybe you’ve visited your family and friends in another country. If you’re an international student, you might be experiencing a huge temperature change (from hot Mexico to cold Canada) or being jet-lagged after a long flight from Asia. If you’re a day student, all the stories about exotic locations can feel endless to listen to. It doesn’t help that winter, with its low temperatures and often grey skies, will be here for the next months…
Head of School Joanne Carruthers is pleased to release the list of Grade 12 students who have achieved academic success in their first term (September to December). For their efforts, these students have earned a place on the Academic Honours List, the Head's List and the Chair's List.
I bet I am not the only one who says, “I can’t do this,” or “I’m not good at that.” We tend to be negative when faced with challenges, setbacks or failures. However, the key to unlocking our true potential is to cultivate a growth mindset.