Local educator along with US Women’s National Ice Hockey team member announced to speak at the Partlow Insurance Sports Breakfast

Retired teacher and decorated coach, Tommy Dixon, will join pro football legends Joe Theismann and Santana Moss as sports guests at the Partlow Insurance Sports Breakfast on Saturday morning, May 1, 2021, from 8 – 10 am, at the Frederick County Fairgrounds.

Born in Winchester, VA, Tommy is the second youngest of seven children to Rachel and Clark Dixon. Dixon attended first through seventh grades at Douglas School. After integration, Tommy attended Handley High School from eighth through twelfth grades. While at Handley, Tommy was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball and track and field. He was voted 2^nd team All-State in football and basketball. Coach Dixon credits three great coaches to his success-James Omps, Ron Rice and Don Welch. After high school, Dixon studied health and physical education at Potomac State College in Keyser, WV and Berea College in Berea, KY.

After college, Dixon returned to Winchester seeking a job. Mr. Clarence Hunter helped Tommy land a substitute teacher job which later turned into a full-time position with Winchester Public Schools. Tommy taught and coached in the city school system for over 39 years.

During Tommy’s tenure, he coached football, track and field, and basketball. Tommy coached football at Daniel Morgan Middle School for nine years where his team only lost two games and had one tie; the rest were wins. Dixon was an assistant track and field coach when Handley won several state championships. Tommy coached basketball for 36 years and compiled a record of 403-228. Tommy coached his teams to nine regular season championships, 10 regional appearances, 3 regional championships, and 6 state tournament berths. Coach Dixon was also recognized several times as Coach of the Year at the District and Regional level. Tommy also was selected to coach in the state all-star game in 2000.

In 2001, Coach Dixon was inducted into Handley’s Hunter Maddex Hall of Fame and the Potomac State College Hall of Fame in 2010. On Saturday evening, December 17, 2016, during a boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball game inside Handley’s Maddex-Omps Gymnasium, the school announced that the basketball court would forever be known as the Coach Tommy Dixon Basketball Court.

Tommy is married to Sharon Wilson Dixon and they have been together for 42 years. They have a daughter Kara, who is a proud Handley and University of Maryland graduate.

The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival® is also delighted to announce that Haley Skarupa, US Women’s National Ice Hockey team member and Olympic gold medal winner will join Joe Theisemann, Santana Moss and Coach Tommy Dixon to speak to local sports fans on Saturday morning, May 1, 2021 from 8:00-10:00 am at the Partlow Insurance Sports Breakfast at the Frederick County Fairgrounds.

Haley Skarupa was a member of the 2018 United States Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team who took home a gold medal from the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. She is a three-time World Champion and a Four Nations Cup Gold Medalist for Team USA as well. Haley graduated from Boston College in 2016, majoring in psychology. While at Boston College, she was a four-year starter and named an All-American Collegiate Athlete.  Skarupa is currently the second highest points leader in Boston College hockey history, men or women, with 115 goals and 244 total points in her four years.

Out of college, she was drafted 5th overall into the National Women’s Hockey League and was a unanimous All-Star Selection her rookie season for the Connecticut Whale. Haley is originally from Rockville, Maryland and graduated from Wootton High School in 2012. She joined the Washington Capitals organization as their Hockey Ambassador for the 2019-2020 season to help promote the growth of the game in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. Currently, she is a member of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) where she participates in weekend-long hockey events across the USA and Canada year-round.  Haley works full-time in business development for Klaviyo, an ecommerce, email marketing and SMS marketing company.