Point After: Spartan's Future Is Even Brighter
ASHBURN, VA- After Friday's hard fought championship victory over Park View, it's hard not to look to the future and see that Broad Run will most definitely be playing for titles every year under the leadership of Michael Burnett. Just two years ago, the Spartans finished a dismal 1-9, and the football program was in disarray. The athletes were there, but the results weren't. Enter Burnett, a California guy with a law degree from the University of Washington. Burnett had coached at Santa Monica high school and had seen the highest level of prep football in one of the biggest states in the country.
Taking over a 1-9 program isn't easy, but if you know what you are doing, you can look like a hero. But Burnett is one of the many coaches that understands that it is much more simple than that. He knows that every parent just wants their child to play for someone who will give them the best experience possible. Wins and losses are great, but when your son comes home and loves playing football again, it doesn't get much better than that. Burnett is all about making sure his players feel this way, and it is a major reason why Broad Run is winning.
"It's not about the wins and losses and the all time record," Burnett said. "It's about the experience for the kids. These are things that happen once in a lifetime and these kind of moments are special. For me, that's what makes it special."
When Broad Run finished 5-5 a year ago and had Park View on the ropes in the final game, most took notice that Burnett had things going in the right direction. A 9-0 start to this season was predicted by our experts, but not because the talent was that much better than a year ago, it was because Burnett's players had bought into his philosophy and his style of play. The Spartans were no longer a team that was hoping to win, they expected to win every game.
While I questioned whether or not Broad Run truly believed they could beat Park View, nobody in the Spartan locker room questioned it for a minute. If anything, the thought that someone didn't think they weren't ready to be champions just made them even hungrier, and they played like it on Friday.
The seniors at Broad Run who experienced the 1-9 season two years ago deserved to be 10-0, and they deserved to finish their careers as Dulles District champions. What's even more important is, Burnett showed them how to overcome adversity and persevere. That's a lesson that will last a lifetime. Playing high school sports is one of the greatest things you will ever experience in life, but learning how to become successful after falling on hard times is crucial to your success as an adult in the real world.
Broad Run will head into the playoffs as a team that nobody in Group AA should want to play. This team believes they can win a state championship, and who am I to doubt that they can't. They have accomplished something that can never be taken away from them, but more importantly, they have learned to become winners again, and that should carry over year after year under Burnett's leadership.
My son is just two and a half years old, but after what I saw last night in Ashburn, I know one guy I would definitely want to coach my kid, his name is Michael Burnett.
