Episcopal Academy freshman Peter Woodville had a taste of the limelight during his recent visit to Britain's Wimbledon Tennis Tournament.
After waiting in line for over five hours, Peter and his mother were thrilled to score tickets to U.S. player Jack Sock's first-round match against Chilean player Christian Garin. After the match, as is tradition at professional tennis matches, Sock tossed his Wimbledon towel to Peter. Within seconds, the towel was snatched away by an older spectator. "I was shocked and disappointed," shared Peter.
"I really wanted to see Jack Sock's early match against Garin and tried to find a seat near Jack's court side chair, hoping I could get a souvenir from him," explained Peter. "Jack won his match and as I was clapping for him I shouted a couple of times 'Jack, can I have your towel'. Jack tossed me his towel and just as I caught it, an older man who came toward the end of the match, grabbed the towel away from me, and said in an angry voice 'I got it first'. I felt surprised that he would do such a thing to a kid and grab the towel that was thrown to me."
"Two days later I looked up Jack Sock on the internet to see when he was playing his next match," explained Peter. "I saw numerous posts about 'boy gets mugged of towel' and immediately recognized the incident. Strangely, a boy from Ireland had claimed to be me! Through social media, I identified myself as the boy in the video who had Jack Sock's towel taken away from him," said Peter.
The next day the Woodvilles returned to Wimbledon to watch Sock's doubles match. "He recognized me and said "I'm sorry buddy', handed me his towel, signed an autograph, and waited to be photographed with me by my mom and other," said Peter.
"I too was shocked at the poor behavior of the man who grabbed the towel away from Peter but did not dwell on it as I wanted to make the best of our trip to England," shared Peter's mother Faeze.
EA's commitment to teaching and Living the Stripes resonated during the experience.
"I am a big sports fan. The Stripes have been a big part of my EA education since age five when I first participated in Aurora/Vesper Day," shared Peter. "Our teachers and coaches have taught us the importance of good sportsmanship and how it helps make our team and our community stronger. Sportsmanship is especially important to me because I love sports and because it involves several other stripes: Faith that my team can succeed, Honesty in play and score keeping, Self-control when you lose or win, Courage to give it your all on the field, Gratitude for all the athletic resources available to us, and Courtesy, Kindness and Respect toward all."
"It was very kind of him [Sock] to broadcast on social media that he would like to find his young fan and give him another towel. Peter and I have also learned a thing or two about the power of social media and how quickly news can spread.
"I'm glad this incident had a happy ending for me and maybe for all others who learned about a great tennis player who went out of his way to make up for someone else's bad behavior. I am very happy to have come home with a Wimbledon 2017 towel, given to me by my favorite player," said Peter.
Peter's story was covered extensively by the British media.
The Woodville family was in England to watch the EA rowing team, and their son Thomas '17, compete in The Royal Henley Regatta.
Peter and Faeze are hoping to see Sock play again in the U.S. Open in September.