In January 2025, D-E’s Athletic Department, led by Athletic Director JD Sand and Associate AD Dat Phan, together with Assistant AD Ryan Vettoso, Administrative Assistant Nicole Bellmay and Athletic Trainers Anthony Bufi and Kimberly Vivian, unveiled a set of core values as it seeks to build upon the Athletics program. The core values are Commitment, Excellence, Respect, and Teamwork.

Here, Mr. Sand talks us through the decision to create the core values and what they mean for the Athletics program moving forward.

Q: Tell us why it was important to formalize a set of core values for the D-E Athletic Department.

Mr. Sand: Upon arrival on campus in July 2023, our department felt that there was an opportunity for the D-E Athletics program to help reinforce the School’s mission statement and help to create an intentional culture, based on shared beliefs and behaviors within athletics to both guide and build the future of D-E Athletics. Throughout the ’23-’24 school year, we observed the differences among all the programs. We found it difficult to achieve greater alignment with each of our programs without a strong foundation so we decided this work could help with that.

Q: Why did you select these particular words–commitment, excellence, respect, and teamwork?

Mr. Sand: We derived our core values from the overarching values and mission statement of the School as well as the mission of the Athletics program. This process involved collaboration among the entire Athletic Department, including our two athletic trainers.

Q: How are you developing the Athletics program at D-E to align with these core values? 

Mr. Sand: We believe it is important to consult our coaches and athletes to fully understand the importance of this work and to help them understand why mission and program alignment is critical. We also want the coaching staff and teams to retain their autonomy so we recognize that individual adaptations of these values might vary from sport to sport, coach to coach, and team to team. We are holding workshops and meetings with every Upper School coach and team and will do so throughout this school year and next school year to achieve this goal.

Q: Tell us more about these workshops with coaches and student-athletes. 

Mr. Sand: The team workshops we are co-hosting with the consultant we’re collaborating with will introduce the core values and help to create common language, routines, and rituals to support these values.

We’ve had three workshops so far this Winter season, one for each Upper School program–Track & Field, Basketball and Ski Racing. Each was a couple of hours long and were very interactive. We asked athletes to answer three fundamental questions about what matters to them, what these beliefs and behaviors look like, and what makes them hard to achieve. This was the foundation for thinking about intentional culture.

Then we separated students into groups to brainstorm about the new core values and what they represented to them and their teams. When we came back together as a larger group, we discussed where there was overlap and what differences were identified.

We want coaches and athletes to better understand their “whys” and to streamline their actions accordingly. Leadership and social-emotional intelligence requires skills or competencies that must be identified, taught, and practiced just like any other skill. These will be important goals but, most importantly, we believe it’s crucial for our athletes to take ownership of their experiences and to help create the culture we’re hoping to build into the future.

Q: What are you most excited about with regard to D-E’s Winter Sports programming and what are you anticipating for the Spring season and beyond?

Mr. Sand: We have had some great results so far–for example, our Varsity Boys Basketball team is currently 17-7 and Track has had a good amount of success–but I am looking forward to seeing where our teams end up. I am most excited about watching the growth and development of all our athletes.

Watching them compete is always thrilling, but the true measure of success isn’t necessarily based on wins and losses. It’s about improving both as individual athletes and as a team and seeing the results of all their hard work.

In terms of the future, we are always exploring new ways to support our athletes and coaches and to enhance their experiences here on and off the field at D-E. That work is always exciting, and we’re going to continue to look at ways we can make an impact, both small and large.