Page 73 - The Hunt - Fall 2022

MEMORANDUM
continued from page 14
bonding opportunities and work the players hard—though not so hard that the team lost its collective spirit.
Tattersall also instituted some traditions that made preseason training more bearable—like an annual charades competition between linemen and skill- position players. That showdown, which takes place just before the start of the season, continues today. “It’s competitive,” Rob says. “He wants to see who can handle themselves under pressure.”
Tattersall also borrowed a fight song from William Penn. He changed the words, and the Quakers sing it after every victory. Each player, assistant and parent knows to learn it.
Wilmington Friends has experienced tremendous success during Tattersall’s tenure, and those achievements have helped alumni stay connected to the school, both as supporters and donors. For alums from the ’60s, ’70s and even the early ’80s, Tattersall is the sole remaining link to Friends. He understands that and cherishes each of his teams. Just don’t ask him for a favorite.
“No way,” he says, laughing.
Still, he does point to the 1991 squad,
which dressed only 15 players for its opener and finished the year with 21. “That was a special team,” Tattersall says.
And he talks about the 1973 team, which boasted a back—Clark Sanders—who was in contention to be the top scorer in the state. In Friends’ final game, with the Quakers deep in Tower Hill territory, Tattersall called a play for Sanders. The player called a timeout and asked Tattersall to let one of his backfield mates, a senior, carry the ball because he hadn’t scored a touchdown that season. “That was the kind of typical unselfishness we had on that team,” Tattersall says.
In 2011, Wilmington Friends named its field after Tattersall. He allowed it, so long as it wasn’t a memorial. He had one more mandate: “Get it spelled correctly.”
This year, Tattersall embarks on a new chapter with the school. But he’ll still be at every meeting, practice and game. “He said something to me a couple years ago about shutting it down,” Rob says. “I said, ‘What are you going to do on Tuesday afternoon at 4 o’clock?’ It’s weird to see an 80-year-old man coaching. But he loves it.” TH
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