Seawolf Strike: Celebrating a Community at Play

“The game begins on Wednesday at 7 a.m.,” the email proclaimed in bolded red text. “Your goal is to eliminate your target by squirting them with water (only using the provided Seawolf toy) while not getting eliminated by the person who is after you.”

Welcome to Seawolf Strike, Tabor Academy’s annual game of all-school tag. The springtime event brings students, faculty, and staff together in a hectic, exciting game of tag using squirt toys shaped like whales. The game culminates in one winner—this year, Amaro Castillo ’28.

Only outdoor attacks are allowed. Parking lots and the sidewalks bordering Front and Spring Streets are safe zones (“Do not run into the street during this game! Safety is essential!” the email exhorts). And, following a notable circumstance from a previous year, a rule clarification: Players cannot attach an Apple AirTag to their target.

English Teacher Kristen O’Brien brought Seawolf Strike to Tabor from a previous school that hosts a similar game. She manages the game, which includes setting up randomized targets, receiving updates when targets are tagged, and handling rule disputes between players. She says she spends around two hours a day managing the game in the early going, when hundreds of Seawolves are prowling campus in search of their targets. This year, 336 members of the campus community participated, including, O’Brien estimates, around 10 faculty and staff. 

O’Brien describes the first day of the game as chaos. “I've spent mealtimes outside the dining hall with a megaphone,” she says. “I’ll tell kids things like ‘I don't know why you're not running, because someone's going to get you,’” she laughs. “The kids who have played before know to run on the first day. The kids who haven’t played before? I’d say at least 100 players get out on the first day every year.”

What’s the secret strategy to going far in Seawolf Strike? O’Brien has some theories. “At least four of the six winners we’ve had since we started have either run cross-country or track,” she notes. “I think they have an advantage because they can run fast and get away.”

Castillo, who won this year (and who, true to O’Brien’s observation, runs cross-country in the fall and track in the spring), reveals some of his winning strategy as well. He observes and memorizes his target’s movements across campus and gets a sense of their schedule. He keeps an eye out for who might be chasing him (“There was one kid who just kept looking at me a lot,” Castillo says. “I knew it was him.”). 

Castillo loves the game because, he says, it’s fun and a chance to meet new people. “Once, I was following a target,” he says. “I was waiting for her to leave the building so I could tag her, but she wouldn’t leave the building. So, we ended up just having a conversation instead.” He says that Seawolf Strike makes school feel “a little more relaxed. It’s a good reset.” 

O’Brien’s hope for the future? That students take more of a role in organizing and facilitating the game. In her eyes, it’s a fun way to build community. “I love to make sure that our community has fun,” O’Brien says. “Seawolf Strike is a neat way to meet people you never have before. You need to talk to people you normally wouldn’t. You need to collaborate. You need to be strategic. There’s a buzz in the hallways that you don’t see at other times of year.”