Teacher Mentor Spotlight: Wendy

BSSWA’s spring sports season kicked off in April! Teacher Mentor, Wendy Nestor, has a full circle moment as a BSSWA alumnae. During her time as a high school and ENY student, Wendy played on the rugby team and today is she a volunteer coach. We asked her to share about her BSSWA rugby journey.

“I originally joined the rugby team to spend more time with my friends. I wasn’t very athletic, but they convinced me to learn the sport alongside them. During my three years on the team, I played Wing and Center. Recently, some of my students asked me to watch them practice and while on the sidelines I could not help but support them through their drills. Afterwards, I spoke with the coaches, and they invited me to attend practices as a volunteer coach. It feels amazing to be on the field working alongside coaches and with Elevate students. I have wanted to support the rugby team for a while! It has been very affirming to have students come to me during the day asking if I’ll be at practice.

One of the best experiences I had while on the rugby team was the practice before our second championship. It rained that day and that meant the field would be muddy. We practiced until the streetlights turned on. At the end of practice, the coach asked the entire team to do a military crawl in a small muddy pool. One by one we cheered each other on as we crawled through the mud.

My time playing rugby was one of my favorite things about high school. Rugby brought my friends and I closer; we always had each other’s backs. We encouraged each other to improve on the field and supported one another during academic clinic to ensure that everyone passed their classes. We were a united front regardless of the academic year we were in. No one could come between the family we had built as a team.”