Jump Shot

Roving reporter and 8th Grade parent, Mark Popovich attended Tuesday’s Girls Middle School B-Ball game against Waldorf and filed this report (and action photos):

The middle school girls basketball team tipped up the 2011 campaign with its first “midnight madness at 3:15pm” game.  Facing Waldorf, the gallant gals worked through the first game jitters and both teams produced little scoring in a first half dominated by strong defensive play.  Scoring picked up the pace in the second stanza and while the burke bengals showed signs of much of the hard work of the preceding practices, they came up short on the final score.  The team looked mah-vah-lus.   Get em next game — Thursday…

Update – true to Mark’s word, La Bengals “got ‘em” on Thursday with a great team effort (and btw – evening up their record at 1 & 1 with a strong “W” – and we’re not talking about G. Bush’s middle initial).

More Popovich original photos (from his new phone) at BurkePix!

Seniors' Night!

One of my favorite nights of the school year is Senior Night.  After a hard fought soccer, wrestling, softball, etc. match, with the sun setting on another season, the players, coaches, parents and friends gather to recognize the work of the senior members of the team.

The night is less a celebration of individual contributions, than it is a recognition and tribute to the power and passage of time and the journey that the individuals and the team make through it.  With teammates and family around them, it’s a recognition of the many things that they have accomplished over the time that they have had together; a recognition that the separate moments of time are fleeting and deserving of a ‘look around’ before they become memories; and that the time ahead of them, though not fully defined, has promise.

Coach McQ and his bouquets

It’s also a (sometimes too implicit) recognition of all the hard work, patience, friendship, urging and caring from all the great coaches that they have had over the years.  A special nod goes to this year’s Girls Varsity Soccer team coaches, Meggan Eckert, Molly Eckert and Lynne Zummo, who not only taught the girls about how to play the game, but about how to be a team.  And thanks to Coach McQ for helping bring together and supporting such a great team of coaches across all of the Burke sports squads.

Here’s to the Seniors and the wonderful time we’ve had watching them grow:

Valerie!

Kate!

Faith!

Grace! (blurry)

Grace & Kate (less blurry!)

Ellie (of course, she makes everyone smile too much to stay in focus!!)

Dana - so much heart - no photo is big enough to capture it!

Congrats to the Girls Varsity Soccer current and future Seniors!

As always – more photos at BurkePix.

Homecoming!

Let the trumpets sound:

Let the food be prepared:

Let the people assemble:

And let the Games begin:

For last Friday was the Homecoming Doubleheader for the Varsity Boys & Girls Soccer squads – as well as all of their loyal fans.  There were two great matches with a beautiful Fall sky colored by a setting sun on one side of the field – and a raucous crowd of Burke fans on the other.

Everyone came out, including – soccer hooligans:

Women of great stature

Men of great stature:

The runners:

The up & comers:

The movers & shakers:

The coaches:

The coach’s puppy:

And the players:

In fact, just about the entire Burke community:

Also, special bravos go to all the many people who pitched in, including Elena Hernandez, Nancy Golding, Diz Hormel, Monica Miracky, Vanessa White, Hal and Dawn Hiemstra, Thorne Rankin, Lisa Carr, Tina Chen, Beth Allaben, Wanda Cosmo, Mike Carr, and especially the Varsity Boys Soccer Team for hazmat cleanup duty under the bleachers – which got a good housekeeping stamp of approval from Coach McQ!

Lots more photos at BurkePix.

Bengals!! Homecoming!! 'Nuff Said!!

Get to the Atrium for the All Bengal Swag Pep Rally.  And you must, MUST get down to the RFK soccer field at 3:30pm today for a Girls and Boys Soccer Doubleheader again Covenant Life.  These teams are “sick” (the kids assure me this is a good thing) and are not to be missed!  Paint your faces, paint your belly (mine takes too much paint), wear Burke trinkets, and bring out your best Burke hooligan spirit!  See you there!

Thanks to Steve O’Keefe, Math Impresario and school paparazzo, for the photograph.for more of his pics, go to PhotO’Keefe.

Burke MS Boys Soccer in Action

The 2011 Middle School Boys Soccer squad saw some great players move up to 9th grade this Fall. That worrisome situation for the team turned out just fine: a crew of eight strong, energetic, and talented 6th graders arrived in the nick of time to join our stalwart 7th graders Ian and Josh with their new 7th grade classmate Tye, and the seven returning 8th graders. We have refilled the boys soccer pipeline, and we are on the field with a talented eighteen-man roster.

Watching the lads at their first few games is terrific fun. They go hard at it and do Burke proud. So let’s congratulate Burke Admissions on the fine new talent they provided for the team!

Our coaches are new-to-Burke-coaching Justin Reid, assisted by Sam Ross. Coach Justin, when he’s not working with our boys, runs QuickFeet Soccer Training. He’s a seasoned coach and player who was born in Edmonton, Alberta, but grew up in DC, and went to Sandy Spring Friends School and then the University of Delaware. Coach Sam is a Burke math and Latin teacher, and the 12th Grade Dean. He’s also the Dad of 6th grader Jamie Ross.

Next game is Friday, September 30 at our own Howard Field on Upton Street. No excuses that it’s too far! Come on out and cheer for the boys!

For a full set of pictures, visit Burke’s Flickr page. The pictures are courtesy Jane Mahaffie and John Mahaffie (the blurry ones). You should be able to snag a photo or two of your young player. Sorry if your child didn’t turn up in a picture, we’ll be taking more, so check back.

Allergic Yawn or Pre-Game Cheer!

‘Tis the season.  No, not that season.  The gift-giving season I’m talking about is the Fall Sports Season.  The halls are decked with Boys & Girls Soccer, Girls Volleyball and Cross-Country.  As pictured above, the athletes have donned their play apparel, as we await what this new season might herald.

The Girls MS Soccer team, pictured above in a pre-game carol led by their coaches, John Howard, Monica Miracky and Sonija Parson, racked up its first win of the season last week with a 3-0 shutout over Hebrew Academy.  Below are some soccer stocking-stuffer pix from their hard-fought game against Grace Bretheren earlier in the week.  And don’t forget to check out tons more photos at BurkePix by clicking here, which were a seasonal gift from our own action photographer, Steve O’Keefe!

Claire on the fly

Lilly skies!

Catherine takes flight

Claire goes Toe to Toe

Joanna, Nora & Emma

It was in the middle of a beautiful Sunday afternoon, but all the stars were arrayed in a diamond shaped constellation across an emerald field.  Three points of Burke Softball light sparkled at the last week’s PVAC Allstar Game at Sandy Spring.  Joanna H. (’12), Emma G. (’11) and Nora S. (’11) anchored the infield as steadfast as the corner stars of the Big Dipper.  Joanna also pitched comets past opposing batters for a couple of key innings.  Each of the players sent shooting stars from the plate to get on base – one of them even shot two blazing meteors into the deep outfield – enabling her to make partial orbits around the bases.

It was a great sight to behold.  No one kept score, everyone had a ball, and the players lit up the field like an aurora.

Thanks to sports photog, Diane Dewhirst, for the great photos.  You can see them all at BurkePix.

PVAC MS 2nd Place!

The word “champion” gets used mostly on ESPN or the World Wrestling Federation about one or another World Champion who has defeated all opponents to take first place.  But the making of a champion goes far beyond coming in first.  The word derives, in part, from the Latin, “campus” which referred to a “field” – as in a field of battle.  Later, in Old English, it came to mean to fight for, protect and defend.  Today the word can refer to one who stands up for and fights to defend another person or cause.

Last Thursday, the Burke Middle School Softball team took to the “field” in the PVAC Finals – for the first time in 21 years!  The opposing team from Covenant Life played a great game and came away with a well deserved win and first place.  But, the Burke girls fought as champions; they never gave up on trying.  They protected their enjoyment and love of the game, and defended their appreciation of the team and their teammates.

Please take a look at the great photos below taken by softball dad, Danny Weiss – and you’ll see what I mean.  An outfield-sized thank you goes to Coaches JD, Pam, Adam K., and Mike for championing these young Burke Champions.

Make sure you go see all of Danny’s photos at BurkePix – including an action photo of Adam re-enacting “I’m a little teapot.“

Bengals!

The Middle School Softball Bengals punched their way into the PVAC Finals with a victory over the JDS Lions yesterday.  With a combination of tough pitching from their two righty fireballers, solid defense out in the field, and clutch hitting up and down the lineup, they took the next step to today’s Championship game against Covenant Life School.

As you can tell from the photo above, this is a fun and talented group of athletes – and well worth a beautiful spring day trip to Gaithersberg for today’s 4:30pm match-up.

Also, a big thank you to Coaches Pam & JD who have done a great job over the season helping these kids learn to play and love the game (you too Mike!).  More team photos at BurkePix.

Go Bengals!!