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Capt. Matt Hurley ’08 Discusses Compassionate Leadership at First Annual Captains’ Dinner

In early January, the winter sports captains took a break from practice to hear from Matt Hurley ’08 at the first annual Captains’ Dinner. This new tradition at The High School was conceived by Admission and Activities Fellow, Erin Phillips ’18, and aims to build camaraderie and inspire leadership among athletics captains at all levels, each season.
 
While at Episcopal, Hurley was a standout athlete who played lacrosse, ran track, and served as captain of the football team his senior year. After his time on The Holy Hill, he attended the United States Military Academy West Point where he played lacrosse and studied international law. Hurley was commissioned as an Army Infantry Officer in 2012 after his graduation from West Point and served on active duty for over eight years. He held roles in the 10th Mountain Division, 75th Ranger Regiment, and 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). He also completed five overseas deployments.

Captain (Ret.) Hurley transitioned from the military in August 2020, resides in Alexandria, and currently works in the Defense & Aerospace industry. He recently earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia and is now pursuing a Master of Science from Virginia Tech. He returned to The Holy Hill in an official capacity in 2019 as an assistant coach to the boys’ junior varsity lacrosse team, helping make EHS history with the School’s first-ever JV IAC lacrosse championship.
 
At the Captains’ Dinner, Hurley reminisced on his years of service, drawing similarities between leadership on the sports field and in the barracks. “Going from Episcopal to military environments was such a smooth and natural transition,” he reflected. “Essentially, I went from being in the locker room to a ‘team room’. I was able to leverage a lot of what I learned at Episcopal to form relational ties and build trust with both my soldiers and our host-nation partners.”
 
For Hurley, leadership came with risks. As a special operations soldier, he conducted helicopter insertions into denied areas to capture high-value targets. He cited trust and communication as tools that helped him lead groups of soldiers on single period-of-darkness operations. “You have to trust the person to the left or the right of you to do what you need them to do when you need them to do it,” Hurley said. “Communication is the glue that ties all of this together.”
 
As a leader, Hurley followed a simple acronym to ensure he was well equipped for the task at hand. “‘4CP’ stands for character, competence, commitment, compassion, and preparation,” he told the audience gathered in the Goodwin Hall of Fame Room. “Taking time to develop and refine your own governing frameworks for leadership will enable you to be successful.”
 
He reassured students that serving as an athletic captain can be the best time to hone their individual leadership skills, which he said they all clearly possessed. He challenged them not to shy away from implementing new ideas, concepts, and tactics with their respective teams. Hurley encouraged students to make mistakes and force growth through uncomfortable situations. “You're not fundamentally deficient as a captain in any way. We all have areas for growth. Deliberately employing new leadership techniques is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to becoming a more effective captain for your teammates and coaches,” he stated.
 
The first event was a huge success, thanks to Hurley and all involved, including Director of Athletics Jen Fitzpatrick and Assistant Director of Athletics Kadeem Rodgers. Fitzpatrick said of the evening: “This marked the beginning of what we hope will be an impactful series for our team captains. As an alumnus, Matt was able to articulate his thoughts in a way that resonated uniquely with our students. At EHS we do powerful work with all of our students on the topic of leadership, but it feels particularly important to provide opportunities like this for our team captains to learn and grow. This was a fantastic start to what we are planning to be seasonal opportunities for similar gatherings.”
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