By Ava Riddle

If you are a member of the Collegiate Upper School who has an Instagram, you’ve probably heard of the account @eric.slam, run by Eric McDaniel (‘22). 

The @eric.slam logo.

McDaniel is a very involved member of Collegiate’s Upper School. Not only is he a force on the baseball field, having recently signed to play baseball at University of Mary Washington, but he was also recently crowned this year’s Homecoming King. When McDaniel was announced as a part of the Homecoming Court at this year’s Pep Rally, Wyatt King (‘23) called him, “the first student leader without a title.” His crowning, voted on by grades 9-12, truly showed the positive impact that McDaniel, along with the help of his Instagram account @eric.slam, has had on the community. 

To an outsider at first glance, @eric.slam may just seem like another sports media page. With just around 480 followers and counting, it doesn’t appear as popular as other sports accounts, like @nfl, or @espn. But to Collegiate’s Upper School, @eric.slam is our very own ESPN. 

@Eric.slam first began as a way to showcase the trials and tribulations of the pre-COVID 2019-2020 JV Gold basketball team, and more specifically star player Will Pace (‘22). Independent of the sports media page @slam, the page was mainly a satirical page to mimic other sports media pages. A highlight video from that basketball season appeared in Pace’s Senior Speech on Sept. 14. But since then, the account has become something much more. 

A frame from an early @eric.slam video. Image credit: Eric McDaniel.

This year, with athletic events finally being back to a relative normal after the pandemic, McDaniel has reactivated his account with a new, sleek look. He posts informative graphics to promote student sections at various events. Some of the sports @eric.slam has promoted this year have included football, volleyball, field hockey, tennis, and soccer. McDaniel has also promoted other special events, including SCA events, the fall play, and the famed Buzzed Hockey Club championship game of Upper School history teacher Nate Jackson. 

One of @eric.slam’s new, sleek posts prior to a football game.

Not only does @eric.slam promote these events, but the account has been successful in producing turnout for them. In the case of Jackson’s championship hockey game on Thursday, September 30 at 9:15 p.m., the efforts of @eric.slam and Max McManus (‘22) were able to produce an impressive student section with more than sixty people in attendance at SkateNation Plus in Short Pump. McManus stated that @eric.slam helped make the event a great memory for both Jackson and the rest of the student body, saying that “the turnout was tremendous, and everyone stormed the arena with flags and boomboxes.” 

Jackson’s hockey team after their championship win, with student section cheering from behind. Photo credit: Jack Ratchford.

@Eric.slam has also, alongside student section leader John “Shawn” Wooton (‘22), been hard at work to support the LIS champion-winning varsity field hockey team this year, who notoriously had not had much attendance at their games in the past. Captain Amani Kimball-McKavish (‘22) says that “him and John always bring a big student section to our games, which is awesome.” 

@eric.slam infographic for field hockey

Kimball-Mckavish added that “it’s cool to support each other now because of @eric.slam.” Like Kimball-Mckavish, many students believe that the account has helped to create a new, supportive culture for our Upper School community. They believe that @eric.slam is more than just a way to promote Collegiate athletics. 

When I asked members of the Upper School what they thought of @eric.slam, I received similar positive responses across the board. Varsity football manager Maddox Foster (‘25) thinks, “@eric.slam brings together the student section well,” while another varsity football manager, Kasey Cross (‘22), called McDaniel an “icon.” Three-sport varsity athlete Jalen “Cloove” Pierce (‘22) also added that “as one of Eric’s top athletes, I have really appreciated what he has done for the student body.” 

@eric.slam infographic for the varsity boy’s soccer championship.

There’s no doubt that @eric.slam is doing its part to make this fall a great one for the Upper School. The question is, what’s next?

Most recently, McDaniel has started to sell @eric.slam merchandise, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, and beanies with his own logo. The merchandise has been relatively popular among the student body. On a regular school day, you can see several Upper School students repping the @eric.slam brand on campus.

Besides merchandising, McDaniel is looking ahead to the future of his platform for the rest of this school year, stating that, “I plan on keeping the account active throughout the remainder of the school year… it really helps bring people together, and I want to maintain that culture.” 

There is one issue that arises when discussing the future of @eric.slam. What will happen once McDaniel graduates? McDaniel said that “I have talked to some juniors about passing the torch on, I just need to find someone who will care as much as I do about it and someone who truly wants to do it.”  

For the sake of juniors and underclassmen alike, one can hope that McDaniel can find a worthy successor to be responsible for @eric.slam. The account has helped to make the events of this fall noteworthy and has truly brought the Upper School together once again after a tough past couple of years.

All photos and infographics by Eric McDaniel.