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Lions football takes pride in teamwork
If you attend a public high school, Friday-night football is the place to be. But to those enrolled in a private school or home-school program, football isn't normally an option – at least at school.The Virginia Lions' roster comprises mainly high school students who are home-schooled.
Lory Gustafson, the Lions events coordinator, said the team's founder, Le'Shon Owens, wanted to give children outside public school the option to play football.
“All of these boys wanted to play high school football, but in order to do that, parents would have to enroll them in public school. Even then, they may not see much playing time,” Gustafson said.
Lions coach Ron Kijewski's son played public school football, but Kijewski wasn't pleased with some aspects.
“The game started to get too political and didn't seem to focus on the learning aspect of the game,” said Kijewski, who travels from West Virginia to coach the Lions. “Not everyone is always given a chance to come off the bench in public school.”
After a season of public school football, Kijewski came across the Virginia Lions Web site and decided to research the program.
“I found the program to be very high character and more of what we were looking for,” Kijewski said. “I have a coaching certificate in West Virginia and noticed they needed coaching help, so I contacted them so my son could play and I could coach.”
Becoming involved with the Lions, Kijewski and his son drive approximately an hour each way from their home to Sterling for practice several times each week.
As a Lions coach, Kijewski enforces building better people while learning the fundamentals of the game, playing as a team and, of course, having fun.
The Virginia Lions do not require players to have any football experience before joining the team. Starting quarterback Paul LaRock is a soccer player who joined the team.
LaRock, 17, isn't replacing soccer with football but said he's definitely happy to have the opportunity to play with the Lions.
“There's nothing I don't like about it," LaRock said. "I'm sure once we get pads on, hitting will be my favorite, though."
Vincent Owens, a tackle for the Lions and son of the team's founder, is the youngest member of the team at age 13. He has big dreams to play in the NFL one day.
The Lions, whose roster is also open to public school players, currently practice at Algonkian Elementary School in Sterling. Assistant coach Simon Warner is working hard with other members of the Lions board of directors to secure a home field. In addition, the team is continuing to build its numbers for the upcoming season with about 13 already set to play.
As an independent team without any league affiliation, the Lions will play games against various area teams, including Randolph-Macon Academy and Oak Hill Academy.
“We've been invited to join several leagues,” Kijewski said. “But we're still looking into them and deciding how we'd like to handle it.”
For more information about Virginia Lions football, visit www.valions.net .
Contact the reporter at nbuckholz@timespapers.com
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