Torch - Spring/Summer 2019

A look at athletics at Havergal, past and present (top, from left): Gymnastics drill at the Jarvis Street location (early 1900s); the current pool, built in 2006; Havergal’s Ice Hockey team in 1898; students play field hockey on the Judy Ratcliffe Field.

university entrance credit. The course included child development, anatomy and physiology, the social influence of sport and required practical work in sport and in work with children (e.g., a swim program at Havergal for children with cystic fibrosis in co-operation with the Hospital for Sick Children). At the same time, girls attending independent schools had no access to competition at the provincial level, as there were neither the number of schools nor number of students required to form their own league. After several years of approaching public high-school leagues in the area, the Toronto District Catholic Athletic Association finally gave Havergal and Bishop Strachan School membership. Eventually, as more independent schools for boys became co-ed, the Canadian Independent Schools Athletic Association (CISAA) was formed and was accepted as a member of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA). A pathway had been provided for CISAA champions to advance to provincial championships. Judy Ratcliffe, who had attended Havergal as a student and later became Co-Head of Health & Physical Education with Robson, had played on every team on offer. However, she and Robson agreed to limit students to one team per season, to ensure maximum participation across the school. “We wanted to involve as many youngsters as possible in as many ways as possible,” says Robson. Overall, participation in CISAA and OFSAA raised the athletic bar at Havergal. Robson and Ratcliffe witnessed the school’s teams soar over the decades. They also saw the scope of sports expand, largely at the behest of student leadership. For example, when some girls suggested that rowing be introduced in the 1980s, they were told

that if they could come up with a coach, a club and transportation, the school would consider it. The school continued this strategy when adding other sports (e.g., soccer and curling), as well as House and club activities. The school’s current Athletic Director, Jackie Suongas, shares this commitment to breadth of appeal. “We’ve tried to create an athletic community that everyone can take part in,” she says. It’s working; last year, 85 per cent of the students at the school participated in some facet of the athletic program. The current offerings, which range from yoga to ultimate frisbee to fencing, are truly diverse; there are more than 60 programs and teams and 135 coaches. Teams are offered at multiple levels (there are seven Volleyball teams, for instance), to accommodate varying levels of skill and competitiveness. Suongas is proud of the school’s strong performance on the “bigger stage” of OFSAA, but says that, at the end of the day, the program “is about community.” It’s more about the sense of wellness, belonging and friendship that come with joining a team or activity. “Those are the memories,” she says. For whatever reason—the school’s history, facilities, philosophy— Havergal tends to attract students interested in participating in athletics. Suongas’ goal is to keep that athleticism alive and to ensure that its benefits reach the most students possible. Ultimately, it’s a return to Knox, who wrote in her 1919 book The Girl of the New Day : “It is splendid to find yourself at the end of your school days with a sturdy, wholesome mind. But no matter how great good luck goes with that mind you will not succeed unless you have an equally sturdy, wholesome body.” 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS | SPRING/SUMMER 2019 • TORCH 37

2. Knox, E. M. The Girl of the New Day . Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1919, p. 19.