For Nigel Cabral, Every Great Summer Starts with an ‘Essence of Fun’
Video by Jesse Paddock
1-minute read | 2-minute watch
The hottest part of every summer corresponds with the presence in the Eastern sky of Sirius, or the “Dog Star.” Its very name translates to “scorching” in Greek, and it serves as the genesis of the phrase “dog days of summer.” It is a period, we are told, of pure endurance. But not for Nigel Cabral. “I always want to enjoy the ride,” Cabral said in May 2024, weeks before his first session as interim director of Durham Academy Summer. “I’m not looking to get through the summer. I want to really enjoy it.”
It isn’t hard for a San Diego kid who spent the summers of his youth running around with his brother and friends at camp. It isn’t hard for the same kid who grew up to become the athletic director at a Boys & Girls Club in Southern California, where he coordinated sports within after-school programs for nine years. And it isn’t hard for the now full-time director of DA Summer — he was promoted in September 2024 — to greet his campers each morning with nothing less than the promise of fun in the sun.
DA videographer and Upper School video production teacher Jesse Paddock tagged along with Cabral to learn more about his exuberant approach to DA Summer; his holistic “player before ball” philosophy as head coach of DA’s varsity girls basketball team; and his joyful disposition that could make any dog day break its leash.