Briar Woods Hopes to Follow Its Leaders
The leadership in Briar Woods' new varsity program includes, from left, senior Matthew Lockley, junior John Maghamez, senior Arash Hamidi and sophomore Alex Munro.
(By Tracy A. Woodward -- The Washington Post)
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The Briar Woods football team may not see success until long after its 10 current seniors have graduated. But captain Arash Hamidi wouldn't have it any other way.
Hamidi is a senior on the Ashburn school's first varsity team, which will play an independent schedule this fall before joining the Virginia AA Dulles District next year.
"For me, honestly, this is special," said Hamidi, a wide receiver-defensive back. "Even though I might not be here to see it all pay off, I'll always know that when I come back here, I was one of the seniors who started the tradition here. I'd rather be here than anywhere else."
Of the 62 players this year, almost half are sophomores. While the Falcons went 9-1 in junior varsity play last year, the move to varsity will be a change.
This season's senior leadership will be vitally important for years to come, Coach Charlie Pierce said.
Pierce, who had several years of success coaching at Park View, counts on his senior captains to instill the right attitude in the younger players -- an attitude that should help make the program a perennial contender in the future.
"The way I've approached that to them is [to say] 'You guys are laying the foundation down the road,' " Pierce said. " 'You guys are part of the foundation of this program.' "
While fellow Loudoun County schools like Stone Bridge, Heritage and Park View are candidates to make the playoffs this year, Briar Woods is probably a few years from being a true contender.
"I do feel like we do get to feel some of the benefits," senior linebacker Matthew Lockley said. "You get to see some of the kids mature throughout the season, you get to see this team grow every week. We're getting better every week."
