Take A Pause

Princeton Unveils Its Pause Wall

Is it too soon to call Grace Baylis a former Princeton athlete?

Baylis has been the starting goalie for the Princeton field hockey team for the last four years. With the end of the season, it also marked the end of her career with the Tigers.

Of course the field hockey team went out in style, reaching the NCAA championship game before falling to North Carolina. Still, the question is whether or not Baylis is a former athlete?

Either way, she's a current student and a current Student-Athlete Wellness Leader. Her positive contributions to Princeton Athletics and the University as a whole will continue through graduation in June.

TigerBlog spoke to both Baylis and Doug Davis (another former athlete) recently. In Davis' case, he's definitely a former athlete. In fact, he recently turned 30, something, he said, that caused him to immediately get a little slower.

In speaking with them, TB was struck by their differences and yet their Princeton-born similarities.

Differences?

Davis grew up in Philadelphia (45 minutes from Princeton) and went to high school at the Hun School (two minutes from Princeton). Baylis grew up in England.

Davis played basketball. Baylis plays (played?) field hockey.

Davis is third-leading scorer in Princeton history with 1,550 career points (TB doesn't need to tell any Princeton fan what the two biggest ones were). Baylis, a goalie, had no career points.

On the other hand, they also have two big similarities.

First, TB would say they're both underrated.

Despite his 1,550 career points and 276 career three-pointers made (second all-time at Princeton and just five away from Brian Earl's school record), Davis was never a first-team All-Ivy League selection. In fact, he was honorable mention once and second-team twice.

TigerBlog remembers being pretty surprised at the time that Davis was never first-team. He clearly though Davis deserved it.

Oh, and in case you forgot, the biggest two points he scored were the two at the buzzer of the 2011 Ivy League playoff game at Yale, a win over Harvard that vaulted the Tigers into the NCAA tournament. 

As for Baylis, she was the starting goalie on three NCAA Final Four teams, including one that reached the national championship game. She was always a steadying rock on the defensive end of the field on teams that spent pretty much her entire time ranked in the top 10, often in the top 5, and probably never lower than 15th or so.

For that, she was a three-time honorable mention All-Ivy League selection.

Like TB said, they're both underrated.

What else do they have in common?

Through their Princeton experience, they have come to appreciate the great sense of community that exists here. And they understand the challenges that come with being a Princeton Athlete.

And they've both wanted to help.

Baylis, one of the directors of the Student-Athlete Wellness Leaders, and Davis, now a teacher and the head boys' basketball coach at Princeton Day School, have both been instrumental in the new "Pause Wall" that recently made its debut in the Caldwell Field House.

The wall stands just inside the door that faces out towards Weaver Track and Field Stadium. It is filled with messages that athletes leave for other athletes, as well as information on wellness and other programs that are available on campus.

The title word "Pause" was not chosen accidentally.

The intent is to have Princeton athletes stop - pause - as they walk into the field house, coming from whatever class they had or whatever film session they had or wherever else they came from, on their way to practice or the training room or something, and reflect on the positives and mostly just catch their breath.

It's easy to get caught up in the pace of the school. Taking such a pause seems so natural, but it's not always the case.

That's why having such a wall is such a great thing. Athletes are encouraged to read the inspirational messages that are already on the wall or to leave new ones of their own.

It was made possible in part by a grant from Tiger Well, a Princeton program that assists projects and activities in pursuit of campus wellness.

The official unveiling of the wall was a well-attended event featuring athletes, coaches and administrators. It was obvious that the athletes were drawn to the project, and to the messages that they saw and left.

Doug Davis was there. Grace Baylis was too. Baylis, in fact, spoke on behalf of the SAWLs as part of the ceremony.