Field named for women’s soccer leader
The Fairfax County Park Authority Board voted July 13 to name rectangular field 6 at Pine Ridge Park in Annandale in honor of Wanda Rixon, as requested by the Fairfax Women’s Soccer Association (FWSA).
Rixon has been involved with the development and administration of FWSA since 1978 and has served in many capacities, including multiple terms as head commissioner.
Related story: Kehrer Baseball Complex dedicated at Pine Ridge Park
FWSA and Rixon played an instrumental role in the successful effort to fight a proposal to sell the park to a developer in the late 1990s. Pine Ridge Park was dedicated as permanent parkland in 2001.
FWSA has contributed over $350,000 over the years for the improvement and maintenance of the fields at Pine Ridge.
Rixon has been especially influential in creating soccer opportunities for seniors as the membership has aged, creating divisions for over-50 and over-58 players. In 2020, she was awarded the Iconic Woman Award by the Women and Girls in Soccer organization.
27 responses to “Field named for women’s soccer leader”
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Way to go Wanda Rixon, so deserving. Your one in a million!
Congratulations Wanda! Well deserved.
Amazing! Go Wanda Rixon! You have helped move women’s soccer forward!! ❤️⚽️👍
Congratulations to Wanda and FWSA.
So very well-deserved: a true giant among us promoting women’s soccer. Congrats Wanda!
A well deserved honor to someone who has devoted her time and energy to Women’s soccer. Congratulations and hugs.
You deserve such a wonderful honor Wanda, you’ve done so much for Women’s soccer!
Such a great honor for a tireless woman working hard for women’s soccer!!! Congratulations,Wanda!!
Such a great honor for a fab woman working hard for women’s soccer!!! Congratulations,Wanda!!
Congratulations, Wanda!! Excellent choice by the park authority.
Congrats to Wanda! She is generous with her time, talent, and organizational skills. She is fair, even tempered, kind, and fun. A shining star for women’s soccer in Northern Virginia—and an excellent player.
What Wanda Rixon has done for women’s soccer in the region is immeasurable. She has devoted countless hours to the Fairfax Women’s Soccer League as well as the Arlington Women’s Soccer League, resulting in enhanced playing opportunities for women of all ages. This is certainly a well-deserved honor!
It was my pleasure to have played with Wanda, many years! So glad to hear of this honor bestowed upon her!
Congratulations Wanda!
How cool is this!!!!!!! Way to go Wanda!!!!!
I come from Siver Spring to play at Pine Ridge because of the great opportunity to play with other mature women that FWSA offers thanks to all the work done by Wanda.
Thank you FCPA (and FWSA) for recognizing Wanda for her dedication to advancing soccer for women in Arlington and Fairfax. Her commitment to build community through soccer has impacted many. Congratulations and thank you, Wanda!
The proposal to name the field after Wanda Rixon was the brain child of Pamela Schulstad, who has played with and against Wanda for many years and was well aware of all her efforts on behalf of women soccer players. Ms. Schulstad drafted the request and followed its progress through the administrative procedure to approval, not FWSA.
A great honor for a great, deserving person. Her name, along with Ruth Walton, are a tribute to FWSA’s existence.
Wanda is incredible. I have enjoyed playing with her. She has done so much for women’s soccer. Pine Ridge was our home for playing soccer, hanging with friends and supporting each other.
Well deserved, Wanda has been a leader in fairfax woman’s soccer and nationally for the long haul….👏❤️
FWSA changed my life!! And the lives of MANY other women in the DC metro area. Thank you so much to Wanda Rixon (and others) for the many years of time and energy you have devoted to the organization and the sport
Awesome Wanda! Well deserved, this area has the best women’s soccer programs and thanks for being instrumental in this.
Well deserved recognition for a truly dedicated soccer player! Thank you Wanda for helping to shape and sustain soccer opportunities for women of all ages and skill levels!
Congratulations, Wanda! I remember the days of grovelling and paying money to youth leagues for use of their fields and settling for inconvenient times and locations. Thank you. Your contribution is part of the groundwork that led to the success of women’s soccer even at the highest level.
Again, thank you!
Thank you from the lacrosse community as well Wanda!
What a perfect way to honor and recognize Wanda’s devotion to a soccer league committed to women.