The NNPS Athletic Program provides an opportunity for those students endowed with the physical and mental ability to compete at a level higher than that offered in the normal instructional program.
Our program will allow the talented athletes to develop their skills and knowledge to a higher degree of competency on the practice field and offer them the laboratory of the playing field to measure their accomplishments in competition with their peers.
In addition to the development of these physical skills, the athletic program will offer the athlete the opportunity to become a more useful and loyal member of society by developing a desire to achieve excellence but with the willingness to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of the team. Close contact with teammates and opponents will develop a sense of loyalty and dedication as well as a respect for the dignity of others.
Newport News Public Schools has formed a partnership with Riverside Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Specialists to provide sports medicine care to its high school athletes. Riverside's sports medicine team will also support NNPS athletes by reviewing all athletic trainer protocols, providing professional development to athletic trainers and serving on division-wide athletic committees.
Riverside Sports Medicine Specialists will partner with the school division's athletic care network, including certified athletic trainers, to provide medical care and oversight in several areas including sports physicals, injury management at sporting events and medical management of sport related injuries to help return athletes to play.
"We could not be more excited to have this opportunity to bring our expertise to work with the student athletes at NNPS," says John Barley, D.O., a sports medicine physician with Riverside Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Specialists. "Our team is dedicated to providing the highest quality medical care, where we focus on improving performance, decreasing injuries and providing access to highly qualified sports medicine specialists."
Dr. John Buxton Todd was a four-sport star at both Newport News High School and the College of William and Mary. He was football captain of the 1920 Newport News team that became the school's first to win the state championship and of his team at William and Mary.
But his legacy includes more than winning records. When his playing and refereeing days were behind him, Dr. Todd, a dentist, invented the precursor of the protective mouthpiece football players use today.
John B. Todd played basketball, was an infielder who went on to play semipro baseball, and was a shot-putter on the track team. Yet, football would be his forte. His William and Mary squads went 6-3 in 1922, 6-3 in 1923 and 6-2-1 in 1924. He graduated college in 1925.
After his college football career, Todd became a football official and refereed games for Notre Dame, in the Southern Conference and for the forerunner of the Washington Redskins. He also called the Cotton Bowl and the 1950 Orange Bowl.
At the Medical College of Virginia, Todd was a salutatorian of his dental class. As a dentist, he did more than his share of charitable work on the Peninsula, providing dental work to those who couldn't afford it.
Dr. Todd died of cancer at age 62 in 1965. Todd Stadium, built in 1966 and opened for the 1967 football season, was named in honor of him.
