Athletics Overview

Victory is sweet. But athletics is about much more than wins and losses. On our fields and courts, students learn lessons in sportsmanship, resilience, leadership and the value of sacrifice for the good of a common goal. 

Athletics can teach students to deal with the elation of success and also the disappointment of failure — and how to benefit from both. DA students experience broad access to the athletics program, with approximately 80 percent of students in grades 7–8 and 65 percent of Upper Schoolers participating in interscholastic team sports. At the same time, our teams have been incredibly successful — playing competitive schedules, regularly earning top rankings at the regional and state level, and winning state championships.
 

Athletics Philosophy

Durham Academy's athletics program emphasizes that a fulfilled life will include complements to intellectual endeavors, including the satisfaction of physical attainment, the increased self-confidence that accompanies development of skills and the pleasure of camaraderie with one’s peers. Durham Academy is committed to developing an athletic participation philosophy that is inclusive, yet preserves the integrity of interscholastic team sports and the integrity of competition.

Our goals for student-athletes:

• Learn the value of and develop the habits of hard work, determination and self-discipline.
• Learn the importance of working cooperatively toward team goals.
• Learn to respond appropriately to victory and defeat.
• Learn to compete with grace and good sportsmanship.
• Develop athletic skills.

DA Athletics is committed to the following principles:

• Providing a varied program of interscholastic sports

• Encouraging the broad participation of students and the active involvement of its faculty in the athletic program
• Maintaining competitive varsity programs within the conference and state organizations