The Wednesday before the AYF Olympics

To paraphrase the John Denver song, “All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go…” We are leaving on a jet plane tomorrow. And where might that jet plane be taking us? Boston, of course, for the 91st Annual Armenian Youth Federation Olympics. 

By my reckoning, this is maybe the 60th Olympics I will be attending. It is certainly a tradition—and has most certainly been a family tradition. When I was six years old, I attended my first Olympics without my parents. I was visiting my Gavoor grandparents, and we drove to New York to attend the games. The few times we did not go, for whatever reason (and all the reasons seem lame in retrospect), we certainly missed being there and vowed never to miss it again. 

The AYF Olympics is an annual ritual—almost an obligation—an integral part of my Armenian life. Certainly, my parents, my grandparents, my wife Judy and her parents and my favorite Olympics Queens—my aunt Suzanne Merian Arzoian—and my sister Nancy have all contributed greatly to this. But I would have embraced it with the fervor I do today if it were not for Olympic King Tom Vartabedian, who got me involved in reporting on the AYF Olympics 12 years ago. With each passing year, I am more grateful to Tom for his encouragement and for passing the Olympic reporting along to Bob Tutunjian, Harry Derderian and me.

This week, I have been talking to a few friends whom I look forward to seeing this weekend. With each passing year, fewer and fewer people of my generation attend for the entire weekend. For some, the pace of the weekend is chaotic and exhausting, so they may only attend the Alumni Dance or the Games if they live nearby. The older we get, the more we will see this happen.

Others, sadly, have passed on. I will miss Greg Vartanian of Detroit, who passed away in 2022. He and I were standing next to each other in 1971 at the Boston Olympics when James Tashjian, the emcee at the Olympic Ball at the Statler Hilton, told everyone at the start of the awards ceremony, “Will everyone please recede to the sides of this grand basilica?” We looked at each other and never forgot that moment. We often brought up this very Tashjian-esque turn of a phrase. Were he in Boston, we would surely relive that moment.

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Earlier this month, we were all saddened to hear of the passing of Manoog Kaprielian. Stepan Piligian wrote a beautiful tribute in the Weekly, A lifetime of service to others: Rest well in God’s eternity, brother. Manoog and I were what I would call Olympic friends. The Olympics were really the only time we saw each other and chatted. We would always find each other and sit to catch up. Really, it was Manoog who found me. I was always impressed with his genuine interest in what was going on in my life and the amazing things he was up to. Manoog was this way with everyone, which is why everyone who knew him will miss him in Boston and every Olympics to come.

I miss my Dad at every Olympics since he passed in 2018. I will miss him just a bit more at this Olympics, as he was native to Boston and a proud member of the Watertown “Gaidzag” Chapter. Athletics and the AYF were always part of his life. He was an athlete, served on the governing body for several years and was a famed coach of the Detroit “Tandourjian” Chapter. 

He was very proud to have been a member of the “Watertown Six” team that won the 1953 Olympics in Worcester. I was delighted that my colleague, Harry Derderian, wrote a beautiful piece, “The Watertown Six: The Gaidzag family spirit, about this amazing team. I always wanted to write about that amazing team myself, but thought it would be self-serving, as both my dad and my Uncle Buddy Gavoor were on it. Thanks, Harry, for writing about this.

A bit of backstory: The track coach at Watertown High School, Arthur Perkins, became the indoor and outdoor track coach in 1947 and started a cross-country program. His first cross-country team won the state championship in its first year. From 1947 to 1950, his teams won the Class B state championship in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track each of the three years. 

In 2004, I had the opportunity to attend the induction of the 1949 track team into the Watertown High School Hall of Fame. Two of the “Watertown Six”—my Dad and Andy Dadagian—were members of that team. When I heard the team members speak of Coach Perkins, I realized that my dad modeled his own coaching style on the lessons he learned from Coach Perkins: treat everyone as equals, encourage everyone to improve by believing in themselves and provide drills and practices that facilitate that improvement. 

When my dad passed, many of the AYFers he had coached related how he built up their self-confidence to achieve more than they thought was possible, and how that self-confidence served them well in all other aspects of their lives. This is exactly what the 1949 teammates said about Coach Perkins.

Stories like these are why the AYF Olympics are so very special. I look forward to seeing everyone this coming weekend in Boston.