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“It's a funny award...You don't see many young kids get this award. It encompasses a career...
“I don't know how you pick an A.D. award; we all do the same things. We all do long hours. We all miss our kids. We all do weekends.”
Carter said he always knew he wanted to be a teacher and coach because of the excellent experiences he had as a student and athlete at Fauquier High School (Class of 1973).
“Best six years of my life was high school,” Carter said jokingly.
Baseball was his best sport, Carter added. (He also played basketball and football.) “In football they called me ‘The Judge' because I was on the bench so much.”
After graduating high school, Carter attended Bluefield Junior College and George Mason University. He received his master's degree in administration and supervision from Shenandoah University. After college, Carter returned to Fauquier, where he spent the first five years of his career teaching kindergarten, first and second grade. He then went to Cedar Lee Middle School before becoming the first athletic director of Liberty High School, a position in which he served for 14 years.
During his career in Fauquier, Carter also coached football, basketball, baseball and softball on the middle and high school levels.
Through all his assignments, Carter said there has been one constant: “Obviously working with the kids, it's a kids business. Very few of us are lucky enough to come to work every day and work with kids and for kids; working with people whose primary objective in life is to help kids. That's the great thing about being in education...
“You don't ever talk to a teacher whose been in it 25, 30 years and they talk about the money. It's a passion...They got into it because it's a passion and we've been lucky enough our passion hasn't gone away.”
Passion is something that seeps into Carter's reflections when he speaks about his work.
“High school athletics, in my opinion, are the only true athletics we have left in the country...Our kids play because they love sports. It's the last time they'll play a game truly because they love it. It's part of their high school learning experience.”
“No single moment stands out” in his career, Carter added. He's enjoyed state titles, like Briar Woods' cheerleading championship this school year, but also the moments that ended short of a championship. “I cherish the moments when athletes cry on your shoulder because they busted their butt and came a point short...To be there to help athletes and coaches, that's what we do...
“You're there for the kids when they win. You're certainly proud of them when they win. You're there for your coaches when they win. You're there for them when they lose; let them know that they're still appreciated. This is all part of a learning process.”
Carter has gone above and beyond his assigned duties when the circumstances have called for it. At Liberty, he raised money for bleachers and lighting for his athletic fields when funding was exhausted. In 1996, then-Gov. George Allen appointed Carter to a two-year term on the Governor's Council of Health & Physical Fitness. He has been named the winner of the American Legion Post 360 Award for Community Service and received the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) State Award of Merit.
Loudoun County Public Schools athletic directors who have been named the VIAAA Athletic Director of the Year include Charles Lutman (1995, while serving at Clarke County), Lawrence “Bootsie” Leonard (1996, Loudoun Valley High School) and Joe Breinig Sr. (2007, Briar Woods High School).
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