As one of the oldest schools in Philadelphia, SCH has many traditions. From SCHacapella Fest to Lower School buddies, none stand out quite like Blue & Gold or Blue & Blue Day. Right before the seniors leave for projects, the day is a competition between two teams: Light Blue and Dark Blue for the boys and Blue and Gold for the girls.

However, these historic events have changed significantly since their creation. It’s important to remember that Blue & Blue and Blue & Gold Day weren’t always about tug-of-war and team colors; they’re the product of legacy, loyalty, and a long-standing love of tradition.

“I love Blue & Gold Day,” said junior Lauren Wilson, a member of Blue. “I’ve been here since Kindergarten, so I’ve done it so many times that it has grown to mean so much to me.”

Blue & Blue Day dates back to 1908 when boarding boys suited up in light and dark blue for a Saturday football scrimmage. Over the decades, that friendly game morphed into a full-scale field day, with dashes, jumps, and that iconic bagpiper procession that’s been a staple since 1967. Every boy is placed on Light Blue or Dark Blue, often inheriting their team from generations before.

Blue & Gold Day for the girls has its roots in 1927 when teams were named Chestnuts and Burrs, a nod to trees around campus. By the ’90s, the switch to Blue and Gold made its mark, and today the day features class-based competitions, a senior tug-of-war, and the much-loved parent-performed song for graduating girls.

This year, Blue & Blue/Blue & Gold Day had one of its most memorable finishes yet, with both Blue and Dark Blue searching for back-to-back victories over Light Blue and Gold.

Blue & Gold Day started before Blue & Blue around 9:00 – with seniors focused on one sole objective: win.

“As a lifer, I take Blue & Gold Day pretty seriously,” said senior Caitlin Keough, one of Gold’s captains. “ I would normally consider myself to be not very competitive, but it’s the one day a year I get really into the competition.”

As a captain, Keough knew that her mission wasn’t just to perform well, but to keep the spirits of her team high. “As soon as people get discouraged, they get anxious and feel more pressure to win their race,” said Keough. “But if everyone is cheering and in beast mode then they just win because they are awesome.”

Keough’s cheering helped support Gold early, as their lower schoolers gave them a lead that forced Blue to play from behind the entire time, greatly helping their play.

“We had some cool lower schoolers that lowkey carried Gold all the way to victory,” said Keough, enthusiastically. Shout out to those lower schoolers!”

Gold was able to ride the momentum from their youth to carry them forward to take the day overall, snapping Blue’s dreams of going back to back as they did in the 2021–2022 season.

“It was depressing,” said Wilson about the team’s failure to repeat. “But we’ll come back next year and win for sure. We’ll win guaranteed for [my] senior year.”

For Gold, on the other hand, it was a moment of both celebration and reflection. “It felt awesome to win,” said Keough. “I’ve always hoped that my team would win my senior year, so it was very perfect. I think that feeling went away pretty quick though, and we all just realized that that was our last Blue & Gold day ever, so it was bittersweet.”

When asked just what Blue & Gold Day meant to her, Keough smiled, saying: “Blue & Gold Day is one of the best days of the year because everyone comes together, dresses up in crazy outfits, and screams as loud as they can. We all just make a fool out of ourselves but no one cares because all that matters is how much fun we’re having. The cheers are the best part, all of us yelling together with one thing in common: we know that Gold is the best team ever and we all want to win.”

On the other hand, Dark Blue had just come off a big win the year prior and was searching to repeat as champions, a feat they hadn’t done since 2019–2021 (The 2020 game was canceled due to COVID).

“Going back to back forced a lot of pressure on us,” said junior Dark Blue captain Quin Dion. “We had to pick the perfect roster to repeat as champions because there was no way we weren’t repeating.”

As per usual, the games were relatively close, but Dark Blue started to pull away after a dominant performance during the relays, using that to build up a lead. Unlike Blue & Gold Day, however, Blue & Blue Day has far more events, giving Light Blue a chance to come back.

Even though Dark Blue had the lead, Light Blue planned to do everything in its power to win. Because even though it wouldn’t decide the match, senior Connor Lauerman wanted nothing more than to win his first game of ultimate frisbee against Dark Blue.

“This was one of the most important moments of my life,” said Lauerman. “I wanted nothing more than to finally beat Dark Blue.

Frisbee, an event that takes two people from each high school grade, has been around since Lauerman’s sophomore year, and while he won that year, he got destroyed the following year.

“I felt ashamed,” said Lauerman. “We got absolutely crushed, and I knew that this year had to be different.”

Despite his best efforts, Light Blue was trailing 4-0 with just a mere nine minutes left to play. Things were looking grim for Laureman’s dreams of winning a championship. But he refused to let his doubts stop him.

Light Blue rallied behind his efforts to come back 5-4, giving their team five points that helped to make up for their losses in the relay. And off the back of that success, they headed into the final game: tug of war.

“I felt relief,” he said, smiling. “To come back, it felt like a weight was taken off my shoulders.

Barely down thanks to the efforts of Lauerman and the frisbee team, the team just needed to focus their efforts during their match-up, with each game of tug of war being worth three points, and the seniors tug worth ten.

While both teams split wins in the early rounds of tug of war, with 5th and 6th grade winning for Light Blue, and seventh and eighth grade winning for Dark Blue. From there, it was a dominant performance from Light Blue.

First, the freshman took care of business to tie everything up, and the sophomores managed to squeak out a narrow victory to pull ahead by three, meaning that the juniors could secure Light Blue’s victory.

“It really brought everyone together,” said junior Ken Vaughn, a member of Light Blue. “The moment got competitive, and it was honestly really fun. The whole school rallied on our backs there.”

With a chance to put the game on ice, the juniors of Light Blue put their full effort into victory, pulling and eventually securing the victory, rushing over and grabbing the trophy in celebration.

“It hurt,” said Dion, disappointed. “It was a long tug of war match, and when they won, it felt like my heart dropped. I remember the devastation on all of our faces, we were staring in stunned silence. But we can’t wait to make go through that next year.”

And to cap off Light Blue’s victory, the seniors won their match as well, capping off the day with a final score of 166–148 for Light Blue, as they paraded around with their trophies.

As the echoes of cheers fade and the colors settle, Blue & Gold and Blue & Blue Day at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy leave behind more than just scores, they etch memories of unity, spirited rivalry, and enduring tradition.

Reflecting on the day’s significance, junior Quin Dion encapsulated the spirit of the event: “Blue & Blue Day is one of the most impactful days for our community, especially our younger kids. It’s one day that unifies the entire school into one mission: win.”