On Friday, Sept. 4, Berkshire’s fall student-athletes and coaches gathered in Allen Theater to hear from David Goldshore, a former Staples High School (Westport, Conn.) boys basketball coach and founder of Stance Sports. Goldshore spent nine years with the Staples program, including four seasons as head coach, leading the Wreckers to an 85–19 record, two FCIAC (league) championships, and two appearances in the CIAC championship game.

Goldshore challenged Berkshire’s student-athletes to look beyond the generic buzzword of “culture” and to define what each of their teams stands for. He shared how, as a high school basketball coach, he built his program around the word “STANCE,” using each letter to establish specific expectations for his players. The six principles—shot selection, transition, assist-to-score, no rebounds/no rings, charges, and execution on two feet—became a common language for the team and a way to hold players accountable on the court.

“What’s the one word that’s meaningful, that lasts years and years of coaches and players, that brings a bond together, that creates a shared language, that you put on the back of your warm-up jerseys, that you break down your huddle with, that you understand what’s coming from you and your coach understands what’s coming from them?” Goldshore said.

Following the session, Berkshire’s fall teams met with their coaches to identify the qualities that matter most to them and to begin choosing one word to define their program. Like Goldshore’s STANCE framework, each team’s word is intended to become more than a theme, serving as a standard that players and coaches can return to throughout the season.

“Your values, habits, and traits are what you celebrate with each other and deem important. As athletes, you are in a position to define that for us.” -Dan Driscoll, Director of Athletics