Category Archives: Fairfax County

The St. James is coming and it is awesome! 

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We’ve needed more indoor sports options for a long time. And now we are getting it.

The St James is 450,000 square feet of sports awesomeness. The St. James will provide a diverse and extensive combination of sports competition and training venues, transformative developmental programs and best-in-class coaching. Athletes and enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels can immerse themselves in an unprecedented variety of sports — from ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and baseball to squash, golf, basketball, volleyball, swimming and more.

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56th Annual Home Plate Awards Banquet

This past weekend, I attended the 56th Annual Home Plate Club Awards Banquet. It was a wonderful evening organized by Ron Tugwell, Rob Hahne and Joey Kamide. The event was co-hosted by NOVA Baseball Magazine.

Three people were inducted into the Hall of Fame. They included Mike Colangelo, Al Mccullock, and Dan Raley.

Mike Colangelo
Colangelo led C.D. Hylton to the Virginia Group AAA state semifinals as a senior in 1994 before his three-year career at George Mason University, which concluded with a 1997 season in which he hit. 418 with a .520 on-base average and 32 extra-base hits. The outfielder was drafted by Anaheim in the 21st round and would play in the big leagues with the Angels, San Diego Padres, and Oakland Athletics before retiring in 2006. Colangelo is the head coach at Charles J. Colgan High School and resides in Manassas.

Al Mccullock
A baseball and football coach at Herndon High School for 30 years, McCullock won 235 games and two Group AAA Northern Re­gion championships over 15 years as the Hor­nets’ head coach. After starring at Lee High School, he served as a three-year captain at Concord University in West Virgin­ia, then played for years with the Industrial League’s Springfield Rifles. Joins his father, Al McCullock Sr., in two capacities – in having a field named after him, and as an HPC Hall of Farner. McCullock is retired and resides in Leesburg. Continue reading

Fairfax County releases new report on county’s demographics

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Fairfax County has released a wide array of updated demographic information. This data provides a lot of insight into who we are now and who we may become.

One interesting trend is the increase in students eligible for free and reduced lunch:

From 2002-2014 the Fairfax County elementary student membership increased by 17%. During the same time period the number of students eligible for free and reduced lunches increased by 72%.

One of the reasons this jumped out at me is the ongoing struggle to make sure that these children have the opportunity to play sports as well as have access to other extracurriculars like art, museum visits and more.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth saying again. We need to make sure we help these children and their families. Sports (and other activities) should never be out of their reach. Through scholarships, assistance with uniforms and equipment, and opportunities to achieve their full potential, we can make sure that all the incredible benefits of sports are available to everyone in our community

Testifying at the Board of Supervisors

I testified last night at the Board of Supervisors budget hearing.  My focus was the proposed Park Authority budget cuts.  I addressed two issues.

First is the need not to cut upkeep and maintenance of high school athletic fields – especially baseball fields.  The schools have indicated to members of the Baseball Council that these cuts will require them to exclude baseball from the high school baseball fields.  Since the high schools have a majority of the 90 foot diamonds in Fairfax, this action would have a devastating impact on the baseball in Northern Virginia.  Total cost for the maintenance of these high school baseball fields is a little over $100,000 a year.

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