During his college days at Atlantic Christian (now Barton), Chris Smallwood established himself as the first great scorer in the school’s brief soccer history.
When his playing days were over in 1977, he had earned NAIA All-Carolinas Conference and All-District honors for four consecutive seasons and was the school’s leading scorer with 37 goals and 29 assists.
Smallwood may have been small (only 5-foot-6) but his game was large. So was his heart. He wanted to win and was willing to do whatever it took to lead a young program (started in 1972) into unknown territory. For Smallwood, giving has always been better than receiving (on and off the field), but when his teammates set him up for the score, he was a strong finisher.
For his work on the field, and his countless contributions to young student-athletes as a coach and physical educator for more than two decades, Smallwood was inducted into the Barton Athletic Hall of Fame.
David Adkins, Barton soccer coach and athletic director during Smallwood’s playing days, predicted that the Fairfax, Va., resident would be the player to take the Bulldogs over the .500 mark for the first time, and he was right. By his junior year, Barton went 11-5, then finished 9-4-4 his senior season.
As it turned out, Smallwood, who graduated in 1978 with a degree in Physical Education, was quite a force. He tallied seven goals and three assists as a freshman, 11 goals and seven assists as a sophomore, 10 goals and 14 assists as a junior and nine goals and five assists during his last campaign, giving him 103 points for his career. He also got to play alongside brothers Dave and Chip while wearing the Barton blue and white.
Smallwood was born on July 9, 1956, and grew up with four brothers and three sisters in a military family. He played sports to be better than his older brother Chip and they both wrestled and played soccer at Fairfax High School. Chris wrestled on the varsity for three seasons and made the regional tournament a couple of times. He also played soccer for four years. His team won the region his freshman season and he garnered all-conference honors as his career progressed.
At Barton, his presence was felt immediately. The Bulldogs won but three matches his freshman year, but they were 6-7-1 his sophomore year, then went 20-9-4 his last two seasons.
To this day, Smallwood says that Adkins had a profound impact on his life – here and later – as he chose a career path.
Another claim to fame for Smallwood is that he was Beddingfield High School’s first soccer coach in 1978.
After graduating from Barton, Smallwood taught/coached at Ringgold High School in Ringgold, Pa., and Hayfield High School in Alexandria, Va., for 13 years. He also coached the Reston Rampage, a Premier League squad, and produced some great players, including three who were in the starting lineup at James Madison University. For 10 years prior to being inducted he has been a certified physical education instructor at Bucknell Elementary School in South Fairfax County. He also spent once a week volunteering to teach about 35 men and 25 women soccer in an after-school sports club.
Those children certainly have an excellent role model, one who is also a member of the Barton Athletic Hall of Fame.
Smallwood contends he was on the receiving end of a lot of great assists over the years at Barton. He now has been on the receiving end of the highest honor bestowed upon student-athletes at his beloved alma mater.
