"Hey."

Hank's voice was equal parts stern and exasperated, though it was more for effect than anything genuine. He had learned, both from playing sports and coaching them, that a healthy level of competition between teammates was essential. Sometimes that expressed itself in the desire to outdo one another. Other times, it was banter, and bating, and butting heads. Sports were about ego, and aspiring to personal excellence, and sometimes that needed a little competitive fuel. Academia was much the same, though people were less willing to admit it: everyone was graded against an average, academic performance being judged as much on how well you did relative to your peers as it was on the criteria for whatever GPA or college entry requirements a particular student strove towards.

Yet, as valuable as that atmosphere could be, in moderation, now was not the moment for it. Without a foundation of comfort and belonging, that banter could easily become bullying. The new kid didn't have that yet, and Coach Hall needed his words to carry weight and validity, not ring hollow and be instantly disproven.

"What did I just say?"

A moment of silence, and an almost restrained sigh passed, before Hank focused himself on Connor Kent once more.

"Yeah, I teach sports," he confirmed, with a slow nod. "In fact, I'm the Sports Director, which honestly is just a fancy way of saying I teach Phys Ed, but without all the adults feeling like they need to talk down to me at parent-teacher evenings."

"I specifically coach basketball, and also the lacrosse team," he added, glancing up at the other students again, "Where Mr Bromorton will be giving me an extra ten laps tomorrow afternoon for being an ass. Mr West and I will figure out his penance for being a smartass later."

Those words hung in the air for a moment, before he spoke to Connor again.

"All of that is why you'll hear most of the kids calling me Coach Hall, not Mr Hall; which is what I prefer, for the record. We have separate coaches for the soccer and volleyball teams, and a few others who come in for swimming, tennis, fencing, boat stuff -"

He trailed off, a faint shrug manifesting itself beneath his jacket.

"If it is a sport that doesn't involve people getting repeatedly hit in the head, we've probably got at least a few students who play it."

Hank's brow tugged into a slight frown.

"You play any sports back in Colorado, Kent?"