Va. Lions in a League of Their Own

Independent High School Team Makes the Best of It

By Preston Williams

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The pregame clock has dwindled to well below 10 minutes, and the Virginia Lions, who had rendezvoused at two Burger Kings in Loudoun County to form a loose caravan of eight or so cars for their drive to a game at Quantico, are scrambling to get their act together while the host Devil Warriors diligently loosen up on the football field.

"Everybody's got to get their helmets and stuff on," a coach barks near the parking lot. "We've got to get to the field now."

"Now" turns out to be a few minutes later. One Lion is sent back to a car for his helmet. Others try to form a makeshift line for a semi-unified entrance onto the field that finally comes about five minutes before the kickoff. Still more late-arriving Lions race across the field as the coin is flipped, while a few players on the sideline are throwing on jerseys as though they're in a department store dressing room just before closing time.

This is not what high school football is supposed to look like in the Washington area, where pregame routines are often calibrated to the minute. But the Lions just can't help the chaos: They are a team of players from various public schools who had grown dissatisfied with their programs or vice versa, plus 10 or so home-schooled players just happy to have a team to call their own.

"A lot of the guys from the public schools, the reason why they came out here was because coaches on those teams are playing favorites," said sophomore linebacker-defensive back Robert Larscheid, who is home-schooled. "They weren't getting a fair shot. They're pretty much in the same position [as the home-schoolers] - the only way they can play is to come here."

Photo Gallery

Virginia Lions Football Team

Photo: 0/1

« Previous | Next »

Larger Version

Lions quarterback Drew Barden runs for his second rushing touchdown against Quantico on Sept. 19. The Virginia Lions are a team made up of home-schoolers and students from some of Loudoun County's high schools. (John McDonnell)

Larger Version

From left, the Lions' Drew Barden, Travis Woody, Tim Carter and Cameron Gragg cheer on their defense during a goal-line stand. (John McDonnell)

View all thumbnails

The Lions, billed as a Christian-based endeavor, have no home field. No team bus. No league affiliation. They get minimal exposure. Equipment, at a charge of $250 per player, is stored in parents' garages. They practice three times a week on an unlined field behind a Sterling elementary school. They are not a home-schooled team, even though the Quantico announcer introduces them as such and serving home-schoolers was the program's original intent. And they are not necessarily a bunch of public school guys with low grade-point averages or troubled pasts. Some just want a fresh start or a chance to play more than they would for their high school teams.

Yet, somehow, this 34-man patchwork quilt, in no-frills gold and black uniforms, seems to be functioning, in its own dysfunctional sandlot way.

"We're just all brothers," said senior wide receiver-linebacker Paul LaRock, a home-schooled student who joined the Lions last year for their inaugural season. "Everybody's out here to play football. It doesn't really matter which school you go to."

"We try to more or less foster a sense of belonging right away," said Ron Kijewski, the team's co-coach.

The word is spreading. The Lions, who play a schedule of like-minded teams and private schools, topped out at 19 players last season. Now they are up to 34, and the welcome mat is always out at www.valions.net.

"Our belief is that just because you don't make the [public school] team doesn't mean you don't have the ability," said Le'Shon Owens, the program's founder and executive director. Her husband, Vince, is co-head coach and her son Vincent Owens II is an offensive lineman-linebacker. "Some of them were simply cut. Some have had issues where they got into a little trouble," she said. "We understand that, too. They're coming from very different backgrounds, so to watch them try to bridge those gaps is pretty interesting. It's challenging, but I think it can be a beautiful thing.

"Some kids are maybe rather low-key and haven't experienced some of the things that other kids have experienced. Maybe some have not been exposed to gang activity or maybe not been exposed to drug use and may hear something about it. And some other kids maybe have not been made aware that there are alternatives to their lifestyle: 'Why don't you come join me at my church group?' It's interesting to watch them come together and be friends and discuss where they've been."

Or where they want to go. The Lions won one game last season, and they dropped their opener this season to the Central Virginia Disciples, a team made up of similar players. But despite giving up a long touchdown on the second play against Quantico, and throwing a few interceptions, the Lions departed winners, 26-20, their "One Ball! One Team!" motto fortified.

At halftime against Quantico, the Lions traded ideas on how to stop the Devil Warriors' quarterback, and Kijewski told his players after the game in a casual, prolonged huddle, "I will take your input all the time." One player used the gathering to apologize for something he had done in practice the previous week.

Kijewski is so low-key on the sideline that he could be mistaken for a team statistician. That subdued vibe is why he and his son, junior wide receiver Seth, are with the Lions, traveling about an hour from Jefferson County, W.Va., for games and practices. They were dissatisfied with the public school football experience, a common refrain among the Lions.

"It's a Christian-based team, so everybody's always picking you up," said senior running back-defensive back Jeff Bailey, who attends Potomac Falls. "You never have anybody yelling in your face. And you still have time to do your homework and work."

Kijewski has found that public school players, or at least the ones who join the Lions, tend to have shorter fuses and more of a "fight or flight-type attitude," and that the home-schooled players expect less to be handed to them. But the public school players are almost always more seasoned and football-savvy, he said, and that rubs off on the home-schoolers.

"Playing with [public-school players] helps us understand that we've got to toughen up," LaRock said. "They encourage us to take the game to another level."

Kymberly Shade Duffin has a son, Zachary, playing at Potomac Falls and another, Trey, playing for the Lions. It's a lot easier for Zachary to explain whom he plays for than it is for Trey and the rest of his teammates.

"They explain it by saying they play travel football, and in Northern Virginia, people affiliate it with travel soccer, so then they kinda sorta get it," the players' mother said.

"I could name three or four kids that's really needed this, and it's made a huge difference. That's the thing that I find the most impressive. Something to do, something to belong to, a group of people to care about them."

Varsity Letter is a weekly column about high school sports in the Washington area. E-mail Preston Williams at williamsp@washpost.com.

Tagged: football, high school sports

Your Thoughts...

Are you happy that the school year is over?