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Athletics at Harley

Every student is seen as an athlete, artist, and scholar

Welcome to HAC Athletics!

Each and every year, students at The Harley School participate in HAC Athletics, and their success continues to be impressive, both as students and athletes. Our athletic program is an integral part of Harley, teaching student-athletes invaluable lessons about teamwork, time management, persistence, and competition.  Our program allows them to develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally as they represent their school on and off the field. They grow, mature, and work hard to be the best teammate they can, while creating lifelong memories with teammates who often remain friends for life. 

Helping our athletes to reach their potential are some of HAC’s best assets: our coaches. More often than not, they are drawn from the ranks of our faculty and  have a deep understanding of the personalities and abilities of the student-athletes on their teams.  

We strive to find the right balance of academics, exercise, and personal growth for everyone.  By offering a variety of sports at many different levels, all student-athletes find a sport they can be successful in. It is with great pride and pleasure that my team and I work to enrich the athletic lives of all our HAC student-athletes. Go Wolves! 


Mike Taillie, Athletic Director

We all participate.

At Harley, we believe extracurricular activities are an extension of the classroom. For that reason, all students participate in a team sport. Student involvement in sports begins in middle school with our modified team offerings for Grades 7 and 8, and in Grades 9 and 10, students are required to participate in a team sport of their choice.

We encourage teamwork.

We help create a community where students value each other’s interests and talents. Everyone is challenged to do something outside their comfort zone.

No one gets cut.

We want all of our students to feel free to try new activities and to experience what it means to struggle, improve, and succeed. Our no-cut policy means that students have the opportunity to play on a team, even if they are still developing as an athlete.

We promote balance.

We create a safe place for students to try, fail, and try again, both in the classroom and on the field, with a goal of teaching our students to live balanced, healthy lives.

Teams

The Harley School and Allendale Columbia School maintain a joint athletic program, known as HAC Athletics, to offer the best possible athletic options for students. By combining resources, student bodies, facilities, as well as faculty for coaching purposes, both schools offer dynamic sports programs that fully support the physical, mental, and social development of each student athlete.

The HAC Teams are affiliated with the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, Section V and the Finger Lakes Athletic Association, and they compete in:

  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Cross country
  • Golf
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
  • Softball
  • Swimming
  • Outdoor Track and Field
  • Indoor Track and Field
  • Volleyball

We are champions both on and off the field.

HAC teams have won 64 overall Section V Championships in 11 different sports, including at least one Section V Championship for the past 23 straight years.

Every sports team has been recognized as a Scholar Athlete Team each season for the past seven years. A Scholar Athlete team is a team whose GPA (from at least 75% of the roster) is greater than or equal to 90.00%.

Harley has also been recognized as one of only four schools in New York State to have seven consecutive years as a NYSPHSAA School of Distinction, given to schools where all of their sports teams are recognized as Scholar Athlete Teams.

The Harley School

1981 Clover Street
Rochester, NY 14618
(585) 442-1770

©2023 The Harley School

Our Upper School is filled with formal and informal opportunities for students to take on leadership roles. Whether following passions or learning new skills, student-driven opportunities take many shapes. 

  • Independent study: one trimester, full year, and multi-year projects have included automating our solar chimneys, coding handmade musical instruments, or developing a class on financial literacy for underserved high school students.
  • Serving on student council: 
  • STEM: Climate curriculum program, biomimicry program, NASA Hunch program

At Harley, our students learn how to evaluate social systems in order to identify complex problems in society through a lens of social justice. They take a hands-on approach to working for a fair, equitable society by researching, exploring and evaluating different perspectives, and offering solutions—both theoretical and practical.

Our faculty integrate social justice into our broader curriculum to assist students in gaining a foundational knowledge about what makes a democracy function. By gaining skills in ideating supportive pathways they become more exposed and experienced to how communities can undergo healing and restorative actions.

Students may create independent studies with supervising teachers throughout their Upper School experience or, during Grade 12, they can design Capstone projects—intensive collaborations with Harley faculty and off-campus mentors—involving rigorous academic study and culminating in public presentations. They are empowered to create their own curriculum, set goals, and work on time management skills in order to accomplish their objectives.

Independent Studies run the gamut from The Psychology of Sports to Furniture Design to The Neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s Disease. Capstones, meanwhile, are as diverse as the students who pursue them: Fictional Rochester, Autobiographical Art, Biomimicry Education, Organic Fuel, and Rochester Refugees. 

Indicative of Upper School curiosity and creativity, pursuits such as these distinguish our graduates in college. Through deep dives of this sort, Harley students master more than speaking, writing, and computing: they learn to communicate, advocate, collaborate, organize, listen, and empathize. 

About

Academics

Key Programming

Enrollment

Letter from the Head of School

Letter from the Editor

Features

Central Work that Matters: DEI

Harley Black Alumni Network

Climate Crisis Curriculum

Citizen Scientists

Joy Moss: Storytelling Roots

In Every Issue

Class Notes

Diane Donniger Award

By the Numbers

From the Archives

What’s (Who’s) New at Harley

Divisional Highlights

Alumni Profile: Vandebroek

Alumni Profiles: Keller

HAC Athletics

2021 Lives of Great Purpose Awards

1000 Words

Commencement 2022

Reunion 2022

In Memoriam

Retirements and Fond Farewells

Letter from the Head of School

Letter from the Editor

Features

Central Work that Matters

Affinity Group Forms

Climate Crisis Curriculum

Citizen Scientists

Joy Moss: Storytelling Roots

In Every Issue

Class Notes

Diane Donniger Award

By the Numbers

From the Archives

What’s (Who’s) New at Harley

Divisional Highlights

Alumni Profile: Vandebroek

Alumni Profiles: Keller

HAC Athletics

2021 Lives of Great Purpose Awards

1000 Words

Commencement 2022

Reunion 2022

In Memoriam

Retirements and Fond Farewells