Meadows Athletics Facilities & Community Partnerships

It has been wonderful this year to welcome not only students but also parents and other guests to campus after a long year of separation. This is part of the reason that the leadership team chose “Connections” as this year’s theme. We’re excited to connect with new students and families and to reconnect with families who have been part of The Meadows Family for years. We are also excited to take the reopening of our campus as an opportunity to engage in new connections and partnerships that benefit The Meadows community. So, if it has seemed like our campus has been even busier than usual, some of these partnerships are likely the reason why. Below, you’ll find an overview of our current community partnerships and an explanation of how they are helping us to attract talented students and employees, provide top-flight experiences for our students, and provide positive exposure for The Meadows School to the larger Las Vegas community.

Partnership with Mr. Charles Sams
Four years ago, the Key Fechser Fitness Center was an underutilized space that served only a handful of student-athletes each season. We were able to establish a relationship with Mr. Charles Sams, who serves as our Human Performance Coordinator, to change that. The School negotiated a partnership with Mr. Sams that would allow him to utilize the fitness facility in off-hours and after training Meadows students each day. The previously empty facility now buzzes with student activity throughout the school day and until 6 p.m. Coach Sams has also made himself available to Meadows students on weekends and throughout the summer. While Meadows community members have priority access to the facility and to Mr. Sams’ expertise, this partnership has resulted in some of the top high school, college, and professional athletes having exposure to our campus, our brand, and our dedication to excellence.

NCSAA (Nevada Choice School Athletic Association)
When reviewing our Middle School athletics program, we found a few shortcomings with our previous league, the Red Rock Athletic Conference, and began looking for alternatives. Some of the issues included having to have our teams play against one another during league play, a severe competitive imbalance, and frequent last-minute schedule changes. Therefore, we joined the NCSAA. Not only do we feel that our concerns are being addressed, with better and more competitive opportunities, we have also partnered with the association to provide our facilities on several Saturdays a season. In return, The Meadows does not pay to enter our teams in the league, our families can have their games and matches at their home facility, and we get to expose hundreds of families to our campus. We also look forward to expanding our partnership with NCSAA to provide more experiences for our Lower School student-athletes moving forward as well.

Dig This Volleyball Club
Partnering with “Dig This” has allowed us to bring in some of the highest quality coaches in Las Vegas to instruct our Middle School volleyball teams five days a week. They have implemented a developmental program that will allow our girls to be prepared to play at the club level and moreover at the high school level as they grow. Dig This also provides our varsity coaches, who teach the same skills, terminology, and strategy, to allow for a seamless transition from Middle to Upper School volleyball. In return, we have allowed the club to use our gyms during downtime from Meadows athletic programs in the late winter and spring. This will attract female student-athletes from around the city to see our campus—many of them for the very first time. Upon being hired last summer, coach Ray Fafard introduced one of his 8th grade student-athletes to TMS. That student is now a straight A student thriving on the court and in the classroom.

Erin Thorn Basketball Program
Coach Thorn is a former four-year starter for the BYU Women’s basketball team and 10 year WNBA veteran who agreed to join our staff as our Head Girls’ Basketball Coach. Similar to the volleyball program above, Coach Thorn’s nonprofit basketball program (called The M.O.B. Basketball Family) provides our students with the very highest level of coaching. Erin’s group has been using our gym facility two nights a week during the fall after Meadows volleyball practices are finished. She has also invited Meadows girls basketball players to participate at no cost. And again, Erin has already brought a student-athlete to our campus who was accepted and is thriving academically. Coach Thorn is also helping to evolve our basketball program in the Lower School starting this winter. We look forward to great things from our girls’ basketball program.

Special Olympics and Miracle League
As part of the "Between the Lines" program Athletic Director Claude Grubair has implemented this year, the Meadows Athletic Department has introduced the concept of community initiatives for our student-athletes that allow our kids service opportunities. We are working to connect each team to a community initiative that will offer long-standing and meaningful relationships. For example, we are currently hosting the Special Olympics and Miracle League on campus. The Special Olympics uses our fields on Saturdays doing different sports clinics for the kids in their program. They are currently running a football clinic that our football team will join attend to provide volunteer coaching and guidance. Similarly, our tennis players are hosting clinics on the tennis courts for the Miracle League children on Friday afternoons.

In all, I am excited about the energy these partnerships have brought to our campus and the benefits we have already seen to our community. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these or other partnerships, or if you have any ideas on how we can continue to develop incredible programs and experiences for our students.

Jeremy Gregersen
Head of School