In the small town of Vienna, a powerhouse of a school sits atop the throne of Virginia sports. From track to baseball, tennis to football, the Madison Warhawks have dominated regional and state championships in the DMV area for years.
Since James Madison High School opened in 1959, the school has won countless championships. The Warhawks have won over 15 state championships throughout their sports programs. The girls basketball team has arguably been the most successful recently, winning the state championship for the past four years in a row. The baseball team is also notable, coming off of a strong season in the 2022-23 school year, which ended with their sixth state championship. The marching band is one of the best in the region winning multiple accolades and being virtually unbeatable by other schools. Those are just a few examples, but many other teams have dominated their respective sports for decades.
“I think it’s [the success] phenomenal for kids, coaches, parents, the community, the school. I couldn’t ask for a better run as far as being part of that,” said John Kenny, Athletic Director for Madison. “I don’t find that we’ve backed off at all as far as competing. We’ve actually done the opposite as I think we’ve taken every opportunity that we weren’t four, five, six years ago.”
Madison has a tough practice schedule to maintain their superiority. The football team holds two-a-days, which consists of one practice in the early morning and one in the afternoon. These two-a-days start before the school year in early August in which players take part in harsh conditioning, and position specific drills to make sure players are ready to play as soon as the season starts. All of the teams at Madison have ‘Green Days’, which are out-of-season practices meant to keep players’ skills tuned throughout the year. In addition, most sports host workouts in Madison’s weight room to be as physically conditioned as they can be for the upcoming season. Even in season, teams maintain their tough work out regime in order to continue building the strength of their team.
“There’s three components that I think have helped Madison with their success. Most importantly, the work ethic of the kids combined with great coaches with a team-first mentality. Second, we have great feeder programs. Thirdly, many of our families have the resources to provide our kids with extra training.” said Kenny when asked about his thoughts on what plays a role in Madison’s success.
Although Madison may seem hyper-focused on state championships, Kenny believes that it is a poor mindset for student athletes to have.
“Where I would caution is the expectation that it’s either state tournament, state championship or bust,” said Kenny. “That’s a really tough bar to reach.”
However for Madison, it seems that they won’t have to worry about that. Year in and year out, Madison has been victorious no matter which aspect they choose to compete.