From the national anthem sung before games to the upbeat stadium songs blasted during the action, the intersection of sports and music is nothing new. However, the meeting of music and sports will cause a dilemma for a handful of Viking athletes April 23.
The same day that the music department embarks at 6 a.m. on its annual trip—this year becoming the first MCPS program to perform at New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall—boys tennis and girls lacrosse have important rematches of close 2009 games. Tennis plays Wootton, the presumptive county favorite that it defeated four matches to three last year, while lacrosse takes on Richard Montgomery, to which the Lady Vikes lost last year by just one goal. And on this big day, tennis and lacrosse players in the music program find themselves caught in the middle.
“The moment I found out the Wootton match would be the day we left for Carnegie, I knew there would be a problem,” first doubles player—and saxophonist—Adam Schefkind says. “Needless to say, it’s been a tough call.”
The two teams will take different approaches: the lacrosse players are missing the game in favor of the trip, while the tennis players are taking the Vamoose bus up to New York immediately after the match.
The good news for tennis is that the actual performance at Carnegie—the whole reason for the trip—is Saturday, so the players will still get to the city on time. The bad news, however, is that they will miss Friday’s festivities, which include free time to stroll around Manhattan in the afternoon and a choice of Broadway musicals during the evening.
The worst news is that the department has already had to pay for the trip, so despite skipping the show and two meals, the players will still be paying as much as anyone else.
Jacob Pine, Schefkind’s doubles partner and a member of men’s chorus, had some explaining to do when he found out about the financial issue.
“I’m sure my parents are upset,” Pine says, “but they understand my obligation to the team.”
Still, they are allowing him to stay for the match before taking the bus up with his teammates and being picked up by a tennis parent already in the city. Instrumental music director Terry Alvey says that this is the most people who have ever traveled independently of the school-rented buses.
Alvey commends the tennis parents for being creative with the tough situation, but laments that there is a conflict at all.
“I don’t think there is a thing more that we could have done to help avoid this situation,” she said. “We decided on the trip date during June of last year and passed out notices on the first day of school. Athletic directors and any coaches who might be affected knew about it too; it’s frustrating that people have to miss the fun part on Friday.”
Choral director Jeff Davidson also resents the assumption of some parents who blame the music program, which plans its trip meticulously to avoid any testing dates and spring break, if possible.
“We give out all these notices, we give out the trip letter the first day of school and now we’re the ones who have to scramble?” Davidson asks.
Regardless of whom parents blame for the situation, they now face the prospect of wasting a sizable sum of money. For the parents of the lacrosse musicians, including goalie-percussionist Karoline Miller, the cost was too prohibitive.
“If it were my decision, I would’ve stayed and either driven or been driven up later,” Miller says, “but this trip is expensive, and my mom didn’t want to throw hundreds of dollars out the window just so I could play in a high school lacrosse game.”
According to Miller, to compensate for the loss of many key players, the coach is calling up six players from JV. Miller says that the loss of these varsity players hurts the team’s chances in a game the girls want badly to win. Alvey, though, prefers to put the conflict in a different perspective.
“There’s 59 million lacrosse games and 59 million tennis matches,” Alvey said. “But there’s only one Carnegie Hall.”
