Susan Farmer honored for 23 years service to Nokesville Basketball League

For the past 23 years, Susan Farmer has been a willing volunteer in the Nokesville Basketball League, serving as its commissioner since 1998.

For her devotion to the league and the positive impact on the hundreds of young boys and girls both on and off the basketball court, she was recently honored with the Gil Trenum Volunteer Service Award, given to a person who exemplifies exceptional volunteer service to Nokesville Elementary School and the community.

Farmer received the award at the season-ending league banquet and her name is engraved on a permanent plaque at the school, along with past winners.

Making the presentation was Michelle Cribbs, a past winner of the award named for the community-minded Trenum, the area’s representative to the Prince William County School Board.

“Farmer has dedicated nearly 25 years to our youth as a volunteer and commissioner of the league. Long after her own children outgrew the league, she has continued to volunteer her time and talent to mentor our young athletes,“ said Cribbs in her presentation.

Cribbs added that “Farmer’s yearly commitment begins in the fall with league planning. From November to March, she commits five nights a week, and all day Saturday. Over the past years, she has dedicated well over 500 hours to the athletes. She is well deserving of recognition of her volunteer services spanning almost three decades in our Tiger community.”

“As everyone knows, I love to talk but I was speechless that night,” said Farmer noting that “it was great and satisfying to me to receive the honor.”

Farmer oversees the league that has 12 teams in three divisions—for youth in second and third grades; fourth and fifth grades; and sixth and seventh.

“We keep the three levels to no more that 40 players each so that we can work with them on various skills to make sure they become well-rounded players. We teach each of them how to play all of the positions“ she said.

During the season, the youth play six games at the school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and practice each night during the week.

“I work in the garden section of Home Depot in Manassas so it sort of rushes me to get back for the 6 p.m. start of the practice sessions, but I don’t mind as I really enjoy doing it,” Farmer said.

She said it’s not uncommon for many current and past players to come up and give her a hug if they spot her in the Home Depot. “They are pretty special,” she said.

“We want our players to have fun and a good time while playing … to have a blast. We also command good sportsmanship and cheering of all of the players from the spectators. We want them to set a good example.“ Farmer said. About 30 volunteers keep the league going with many of the coaches being former players.

She also recruits parents to become involved and assists them in becoming knowledgeable coaches. Her positive and encouraging approach is successful in gaining parent volunteerism from those who might not otherwise step forward.

Farmer herself played basketball while growing up in New Jersey. She gradated from Virginia Tech in 1975 and began teaching kindergarten in Lucketts and then first and third graders in Leesburg. She moved to Nokesville in 1987 and three of her children, Robert, 30, Kathleen, 26, and Cole, 23, played in the league that was started by former University of Maryland basketball player Jim O’Brien in 1993.

Before and after becoming commissioner, Farmer played an active role in the running of the league, volunteering to coach, helping with the banquet, participating in the ‘drafting” of the players, rounding up volunteers and in general wearing a hat of many chores.

Farmer, 63, said the drafting or selecting the team rosters is very important.

“We want each team to be as balanced as possible to assure that the games are close and competitive,” she said. Many of the players advance on to play for the high school junior varsity and varsity teams.

“While we as a league have been around for years, we are still one of the best kept secrets in Nokesville as we have been very quiet but dedicated to making the league so successful in teaching the youth about how wonderful basketball is,” she said.

Initially, the league was run by men but when none volunteered in 1998 to become the new commissioner, so Lyn Pechny and Farmer volunteered to take over. “I didn’t particularly want to become commissioner but someone had to do it—even if it was a woman and Lyn became my assistant,” said Farmer who has continued in that capacity since.

She is primarily known as “Miss Farmer” in the community, noting that “I’m not sure anyone even knows my first name.”

“It is difficult to calculate the exact number of children Farmer has coached but using the average of 80 to 120 a year—some of them repeating years)—that is a number of upwards of 1,000 students. She also patiently mentors young referees, recruiting veteran players to learn a new skill,“ said Cribbs.

Many of the players begin the league tentatively and finish with new found confidence. All of the players receive a trophy at the end of the season as a token for their participation in a game of “good old fashioned basketball.”