Parkdale football scores surprise donation from Commanders

Football players from Parkdale High School in Riverdale received an unexpected donation from the Washington Commanders: 65 lockers from the team’s training facility in Ashburn, Virginia, complete with the red-and-gold Commanders logo.

“They had no idea until they started to be installed,” said Zack Burns, assistant coach for the Parkdale Panthers football team. “So it was a good surprise for them.”

Brian Moore, Parkdale’s former athletic director, worked with the Commanders to arrange the donation, Burns said. The lockers were installed in early October.

Burns said the donation replaced old lockers dating to when the school was built in the 1960s. The original lockers were too small to hold the football team’s gear and many were broken.

While the locker room is primarily used by the football team during the fall, Burns said it is also available to several of the school’s athletic programs, including wrestling and boys basketball.

Updating the locker room is part of a broader effort to improve Parkdale’s athletic facilities, which recently included reseeding the football field, Burns said.

The Commanders have also supported Parkdale athletics through donations to Leveling the Playing Field, a nonprofit that provides equipment to youth athletic programs.

Burns said the organization helps supply the football team with gear such as practice uniforms, cleats and gloves. Families usually pay for these items, which can be a financial burden.

“Football is really expensive, and if a family has multiple kids that play different sports … sometimes it becomes tough,” Burns said.

Cooper Walner, a program associate with Leveling the Playing Field, praised the dedication of Parkdale’s athletic staff to support student athletes.

“These are often teachers and coaches who really struggle to find time during the day to get off or get coverage to come into our warehouse to get the equipment,” Walner said. “Parkdale is one of those programs where those coaches and teachers are really putting in the extra effort throughout the year to equip their athletes with everything that they need.”