Making a champion is something the Buford High School athletic department does exceptionally well. Buford has earned countless region and state championships over the years in every classification within the Georgia High School Association.
Buford has 28 varsity athletic teams in 18 different sports. In the 2021-2022 school year, Buford High School athletic teams brought home five state championship trophies, and BHS won the prestigious Georgia Athletic Director’s Association Director’s Cup.
Already this year, Buford has won region and state championships in softball and volleyball. The football team and competition cheerleading team each won their region titles.
Buford believes in providing the very best for its students so they can not only achieve academically and athletically, but out in the world as well.
“I tell people all the time that yeah, our goal is to win championships, but our purpose is to create champions,” Buford athletic director Tony Wolfe said. “That’s champions in life, championship husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, champion college students and champions in the military.”
Wolfe is of the opinion that the purpose of the coaching staff at Buford is to be a positive influence on every student they can, and by impacting them in a positive way, changing the world for the better is possible.
“It can’t always be about winning the state championship, it’s got to be about much more,” Wolfe said. “We have our goals and we have our purpose and our purpose is so much larger than the goals.”
There is a recipe for success, for making a champion. It takes dedicated and compassionate staff members, a Board of Education and school administration that work together for the greater good of students, resources necessary to provide the very best equipment and facilities, a quality education and the full support of the community.
Buford is fortunate to have an excellent group of coaches and staff, some of whom have been with the school for over 20 years. Their children often attend Buford City Schools and they get to know the students, creating a lasting bond. These coaches know how to evoke the very best from each student.
“They (the coaches) have opportunities to go follow promotions, but they won’t pull their kids out of our school system,” Wolfe said. “That’s how we are able to hang onto the Bryan Rogers and the David Snells for 20-plus years.”
The city of Buford operates with the school system always in mind. The city funds the school system and has been able to build and maintain first-class facilities for students. The two entities work well together and city workers can be found working events for the school system.
“We have great support whether it’s the school board or the city,” Wolfe said. “We have resources that others don’t.”
Students are able to receive one of the very best educations taught by teachers who are invested in the success of each student.
“We just want to give our kids the best opportunity and the best experience we can,” Wolfe said. “For our kids to not only achieve here but in college, we need to provide the best for them. Whether you win a championship or not, 20 years from now you want your kids to remember their high school days as some of the best times of their lives.”
FEATURED PHOTO: Buford’s Tom Riden Stadium. Photo by Alicia Payne.
