| News & Events 2006-2007
Former Blair Athletic Director Speaks at Skeptics
 Jon Frere, former Blair athletic director, was the featured speaker at the Society of Skeptics program on March 27; his topic was sportsmanship and coaching at the high school level. Among a number of related topics, he touched on the integration of women in sports at Blair, as well as the ever-growing “specialization” characterizing the high school athletic scene. Former wrestling coach Tom Hutchinson and various alumni athletes were in attendance.
Frere served as headmaster of the Webb School from 1989 until 2005. During his tenure, Webb’s athletic program expanded to include teams in lacrosse, cross country and girls’ soccer. A new lacrosse/soccer field and practice fields were added, and in 2003, the Barton Athletic Center was opened. The school now plays a full TSSAA schedule.
Frere spent five years at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas, where he served as assistant and then interim head. He began his career in independent school education at Blair Academy, where he was a teacher of Spanish, coach and dorm master, director of athletics, and head football coach. He also started the school’s lacrosse program.
In February 2002, Frere served as a Klingenstein Fellow and spent three and half weeks at Teachers College at Columbia University. There he researched and wrote a paper on the relationship of a school’s mission and its athletic program. Much of the paper and subsequent presentations at NAIS and TABS conferences deal with the issue of sportsmanship throughout the school community.
Jon holds a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College and an M.A. from Middlebury College, both in Spanish.
Updated 3/28/07
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