Menlo School
March 2026
Triumph and Transformation
In this KnightLine, learn how Menlo School Athletics inspires Knights to rise to challenges, support one another, and find joy and purpose in being part of something greater than themselves.
On a warm August afternoon, two very different football teams from two vastly different worlds found themselves on the same field.
For many of Menlo’s opponents in this year’s varsity season opener versus Hózhó Academy, a small charter school in New Mexico’s high desert, the overnight bus ride was their first time leaving the Navajo reservation. Much more than a game, the visit was an opportunity to expand horizons on both sidelines. Even more impactful than the game itself was dinner the night before—breaking bread, sharing stories, and leaving a lasting impression on both teams. “It has everything to do with being a person as opposed to being a football player,” said Menlo Head Coach Todd Smith.
While larger societal trends often reward self-interest over the common good, the vision for Menlo Athletics reaches far beyond the scoreboard, framing the game as a bridge for connection and perspective-building. This idea that character development and competitive excellence go hand-in-hand is at the heart of our recent Athletics Strategic Plan—to inspire Knights to rise to challenges, support one another, and find joy and purpose in being part of something greater than themselves. “I think providing culture, character, leadership, physical development, and success to kids through athletics is what it’s all about,” said Director of Athletics Earl Koberlein.
“I think providing culture, character, leadership, physical development, and success to kids through athletics is what it’s all about.”
—Director of Athletics Earl Koberlein
The Why
“Athletics at Menlo have always been about helping students become stronger, more resilient versions of themselves,” said Head of School Than Healy. “At a time when young people feel constant pressure to be flawless and always ‘on,’ sports, as well as arts, remain some of the few spaces where mistakes and imperfections aren’t just tolerated—they’re essential to growth.”
That perspective is especially important now, as youth sports across the country have shifted from transformational to transactional, with individual advancement often overshadowing character development, sometimes even at the expense of the team itself. As a school, we ask ourselves: “How can we elevate the joy, camaraderie, and personal growth aspects of sports while also supporting student-athletes in reaching their full potential?”
This question helped set the framework for the task force Healy and Koberlein assembled nearly three years ago to launch the planning effort. They enlisted trustees Lara Housser and Grady Burnett to spearhead the process, gathering perspectives from a range of parents, coaches, teachers, staff, and students across the Menlo community. What emerged from those conversations helped shape the strategic priorities that now form the plan’s four pillars: Develop Character Above All, Commit to Competitive Excellence, Maximize Student Potential and Success, and Amplify Spirit Across our Community. “The vision for Menlo Athletics is to develop character, bring joy, and help students reach their full potential in sports and in life,” said Housser. “And that they will take the lessons that they learn on the court, field, or pool with them forever.”
Pillar 1: Develop Character Above All
While we are incredibly proud of the championships, trophies, college athlete commits, and CCS banners adorning our gym, the real measure of success in Menlo Athletics has always been about transformation. “In a world where AI and robotics magnify the morality of the societies that they serve,” said Healy, “I think that athletics is one of our greatest tools for teaching character.”
As part of a multi-pronged strategy to be more intentional about character development, Menlo has reimagined and relaunched its student-athlete advisory committee to develop strong leaders on the field and in the community. The Knights Leadership Council (KLC) is a dedicated group of 49 team captains and coach-nominated players that meets monthly to empower student-athletes to become impactful leaders both on and off the field. “Not only do we want our athletic teams to be more successful, but we want to challenge KLC members to positively impact campus culture,” said Koberlein. “So that every kid reaches their full potential—both athletically and character-wise.”
Jackson ’26, who plays football and baseball, looks forward to the KLC conversations and benefits from the network of student leaders from different teams. “I can bounce ideas off captains of my own teams to learn how I can be a better leader, and hear how other people are leading their teams and fostering a strong culture,” he said.
Coaches and KLC members are also learning about character building, well-being, and sports performance from professionals in the field, like Menlo alumna Tyler Webster ’01, Associate Athletics Director, Counseling & Sport Psychology at Santa Clara University. Webster, a star athlete herself while at Menlo, brings a coach’s eye and counselor’s compassion, facilitating sessions that frame student-athlete leaders as both the “thermometers” and “thermostats” of team culture; acknowledging the many hats they wear as athletes, role models, and coach-teammate liaisons; and emphasizing the importance of self-awareness, vulnerability, goal-setting, and growth mindset in helping their teams thrive.
She also led four workshops on leadership styles and how everyday decisions, from language on the sideline to responses after a loss, shape team culture in real time. Webster guided coaches through Self-Determination Theory, a framework showing that motivation deepens when three core needs are met: Autonomy, Belonging, and Competence. At the end, coaches huddled in teams for a Family Feud-style game to decode student behaviors and brainstorm positive ways to spark engagement—using the same collaborative spirit they hope to cultivate with their athletes. Beyond Xs and Os, she tells coaches, “You are the driving force of school culture. You are the backbone—and the students are the messengers.”
“We are learning to face adversity in a really safe landscape and push through that adversity in the right way, in the right setting.”
—Program Director for Boys’ Lacrosse Will Mark
Pillar 2: Commit to Competitive Excellence
Menlo’s athletics tradition runs deep, and our courts and fields are extensions of our classrooms. The Athletics Strategic Plan incorporates facility upgrades—roofed batting cages and a ball-flight monitor on the Silver Family Baseball Field, the planned returfing of Wunderlich Field this summer, and strides toward significant enhancements to the Cartan Complex—that underscore the excellence of our program.
But the true value of Menlo Athletics lies not in standout spaces but in the people who show up for our kids every day, to mentor, motivate, and model what it means to collaborate in pursuit of a purpose greater than themselves. Housser’s passion for this work was inspired by her three children, “each of whom has had at least one Menlo coach who for sure changed their life.” She wants every student to have the opportunity for a transformative experience in an athletic context.
In an area where the cost of living can be prohibitive, Menlo is bolstering efforts to hire and retain top-tier coaches by enhancing compensation packages, offering professional growth opportunities, and developing strategies to ensure they feel valued and supported in their work as educators. This year, we’ve brought on three new full-time, on-campus Athletic Program Directors in boys’ lacrosse, volleyball, girls’ water polo, and swimming to lead our varsity teams and oversee their respective programs across both divisions of the School.
Menlo Athletics’ new Program Director for Boys’ Lacrosse, Will Mark, was a four-time USA Lacrosse Magazine All-America Honorable Mention and plays professionally. But he sees his role as Varsity Boys’ head coach going beyond designing drills and plays to “chasing human lessons and challenges,” as he told The Coat of Arms last month. “We are learning to face adversity in a really safe landscape and push through that adversity in the right way, in the right setting.”
Menlo’s 6-12 model allows coaches to engage many student-athletes early in developing humility, perseverance, sportsmanship, courage, and confidence. Given that 100% of Middle School students participate in athletics during the school day—and almost 90% of our Middle School coaches also coach in the Upper School—each program can design developmentally appropriate experiences for students to rise to challenges, discover their own potential, lift one another up, and grow together as a team. All while delivering a coherent and competitive program that builds year-over-year, and identifying athletes who would benefit from a tailored growth plan as they look toward high school and beyond.
Fielding strong teams across our broad program and competing at the highest level depends in part on attracting talented, right-fit incoming 6th- and 9th-grade student-athletes. The Athletics Department is partnering more intentionally with Admissions to offer families a deeper look at what it’s like to be a student-athlete at Menlo during preview days, to help them picture themselves here, as players and fans.
They learn about our new athlete management system—featuring software developed by a former Menlo coach—that compiles key data into one place to facilitate the holistic development of each student-athlete. They get to see firsthand how we use training tools such as force plates, velocity-based training, and GPS to customize programming, optimize performance, and reduce injury risk in real-time. Most importantly, prospective families meet the all-stars supporting every step of the student-athlete journey: members of our coaching, sports medicine, performance, and wellness teams.
At a time when young people feel constant pressure to be flawless and always ‘on,’ sports, as well as arts, remain some of the few spaces where mistakes and imperfections aren’t just tolerated—they’re essential to growth.” —Than Healy, Head of School
The goal is to bring out the best version of each student in both their athletic and academic spaces.” —Courtney Tyler, Assistant Director of Student Belonging
Pillar 3: Maximize Student Potential and Success
Just as we offer progressive skill development and state-of-the-art resources to help students excel athletically, we also strive to equip them with the tools, scaffolding, and mindset to thrive in Menlo’s ambitious academic environment. The Athletics Strategic Plan, in collaboration with our Wellness and EDIB initiatives, has outlined additional layers of support, oversight, and outreach that are already paying dividends in student-athletes’ lives.
The Learning Center (LC) has added executive function lessons to the revamped 9th-grade rotation curriculum to cover topics like organization, time management, study skills, and effective tutorial techniques. These strategies will help all 9th graders, but especially those—such as in-season athletes—with significant after-school commitments. Likewise, Director of Learning Resources Ryan Dean is working with the Upper School Admissions team and Middle School Learning Specialist Frankie Machado to create academic criteria for kids most likely to benefit from LC support, often multi-sport athletes juggling two or three seasons per year.
When student-athletes need more personalized academic support, LC staff works with Koberlein, teachers, coaches, and Assistant Director of Student Belonging Courtney Tyler, to provide additional scaffolding. This could mean coordinating late practice arrivals so students can meet with a teacher or attend STEM Lab; or enrolling them in an LC class mid-year or adding an LC enrollment eligibility or requirement for the following school year. Tyler is also partnering with athletics teams directly in the form of team study halls, built-in homework help before practice, and coach check-ins about academics, school-sport balance, behavioral observations, and overall well-being. After working with football and boys’ basketball teams, she is connecting with spring coaches to broaden the reach.
“Since coaches spend so much time with our student-athletes, they often have insights about how students are showing up each day and can help spot emerging patterns,” Tyler said. They can also reinforce a shared message about balance—encouraging an academic day, prioritizing rest, or recalibrating commitments when deadlines and assessments peak. “The goal is to bring out the best version of each student in both their athletic and academic spaces.”
For students who have their sights set on continuing their athletic careers in college, we’re expanding the role of Coach Pete Zappas to help families navigate the complexities of the college recruiting process. Zappas is working with our college counselors to create a guide that includes recruitment resources, timelines, and best practices, and will meet with teams, players, and parents to identify target schools, communicate with coaches, and evaluate athletic and academic fit.
“There are moments in sports where we can all come together as one, electrified by the pride, excitement, and awe circulating the stands.”
Pillar 4: Amplify Spirit Across our Community
At the heart of the Athletics Strategic Plan is purpose, not just for the student-athletes, but for the entire school community. There are moments in sports where we can all come together as one, electrified by the pride, excitement, and awe circulating the stands.
Like when a crowd of students stormed the court when the team manager for the boys’ basketball team, Jack ’26—who had never played competitively—dropped a last-second basket on senior night. It didn’t matter that the ball left his hand just after the buzzer and didn’t affect the final score. “Honestly, I didn’t know if I would even be able to get in the game, but to get in and make a shot was one of the best feelings of my life, especially with everyone there around me,” he said.
Or when the girls’ flag football team celebrated the sport’s first Central Coast Section Open Division title in front of overjoyed friends and family by surrounding Coach Noah Lubarsky ’94 and dumping an ice-cold bucket of water on his head. “I was just so happy for the girls, the coaches, the girls that came before them, and the community, to see them accomplish this goal together,” Lubarsky said.
Or in 2024, experiencing our first Valpo Bowl win in five years: “It was amazing…all the baby powder in the air and everyone going crazy,” said cornerback Tyler ’25. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
Or when the Menlo girls’ soccer team won this year’s section title, securing a spot in regionals, and were as excited about staying on the field together as they were about the victory. “I think knowing that if we lost, it would be our last time together was a big part of the motivation,” said Krista ’26.
Athletics are one of the most powerful ways that our community—students, coaches, faculty, parents, alumni, and neighbors—comes together to foster a positive, inclusive, resilient, and joyful school culture. The school pride and unity that pervades the campus on big game days and spirit weeks sends a much-needed message in today’s society: “we’re all in this together.”
To enhance the fan experience on and around game day, the Athletics Strategic Plan aspires to increase activities, promotions, and incentives, bolstering school pride, boosting attendance, and building deeper connections with alumni. We are empowering our student spirit coordinators to strengthen the Sea of Gold and help fill the stands—especially at major rivalry games. And we’re increasing opportunities for halftime performances by dance and middle school teams as well as contests between Menlo fans and the opposing side, such as the Round the World shooting competition during a recent basketball game.
To help amplify school spirit and more broadly convey the value and impact of Menlo Athletics, the School has teamed up with a part-time sports videographer, photographer, and content creator Keesan Nam, who also shoots for the San Francisco Giants and San Jose Sharks. His captivating micro-edits, high-energy hype videos, and immersive season highlight reels on the @MenloKnights Instagram have infused new energy into our programs, and we are already seeing engagement and enthusiasm building online and across our community.
“Some of this work is still in the early phases,” acknowledged Healy. “But there’s so much untapped potential in athletics and arts to bring our community together. We want to keep strengthening these arenas to create more moments where people come out to support one another, connect over a shared experience, and be a part of something greater.”
There’s so much untapped potential in athletics and arts to bring our community together. We want to...create more moments where people come out to support one another, connect over a shared experience, and be a part of something greater.” —Than Healy, Head of School
Win-Win
As we continue to champion competitive excellence and promote school spirit through the rollout of the Athletics Strategic Plan over the next few years, the true measure of success will ultimately be how our athletes meet challenges, show up for one another, serve a bigger purpose, and carry teamwork, grit, joy, and commitment into life beyond Menlo.
With Koberlein set to retire in June, he looks forward to seeing this work continue to gain momentum and evolve under new leadership. “I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished and know I will be leaving the program in good hands,” he said. “With the exceptional coaches and staff, remarkable student-athletes, and these recent enhancements in sports psychology, player development, academic support, and community engagement, it feels like this is a watershed moment for our already strong program.”
When Koberlein pictures himself coming back to visit in five years, he’s ideally in the bleachers of the recently upgraded Cartan Complex, cheering on the Knights as they secure another Valpo Bowl victory. But the true triumph may be less visible—a powerful pep talk on the sidelines, a quick tap of helmets after a tough play, or a respectful rally in the stands—as our character development work takes root, transforming how we compete, lead, and lift each other up.
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