WISC Founder and President Chris Haywood

“Following a Dream”

“Our goal is to create a healthy environment for kids where they can enjoy sports - but also learn valuable lessons that will help them succeed in life.”

For Chris Haywood, it began with a dream - a dream to provide kids with a healthy environment where they could use sports as a building block in life - where sports would play a key role in helping young people develop into adulthood.

“I love to teach and I wanted to make a difference in helping young people. For many years, I pursued a dream - to build a facility where the lessons of sports and the lessons of life could intersect - where sports could help prepare young people for life. That is exactly how the Williamsburg Indoor Sports Complex - WISC - was born.”

“Our goal is to create a healthy environment for kids,” said Chris, “where they can enjoy sports - but also learn valuable lessons that will help them succeed in life.”

While WISC provides young people and adults with the opportunity to participate in a variety of sports, it is soccer that ignited a spark in Chris - soccer that drove him to be his best - soccer that put him on a path that ultimately prepared him to fulfill his dream.

Like most kids growing up, Chris played baseball, basketball and other sports - that is until a friend introduced him to “European football.” At age 11, Chris took up soccer. He was hooked. He began practicing, playing and developing skills that would serve him very well in the years ahead.

At Lafayette High School in Williamsburg, Chris excelled in soccer and was named a Parade Magazine All-American in his senior year - capping a high school career by scoring an amazing eight goals in his final game - putting him at a career-high of 100 goals - a scoring record that still stands today.

The next stop: Old Dominion University where Chris became a valuable playmaker and scorer. He was named NCAA Division I All-American and quickly began capturing the attention of coaches, fans, and the media.

“He's a rare person,” said Mike Berticelli, who coached Chris at ODU. “He's the kind of person you want representing your program - the kind your family, your university, your coach, and your teammates can be and are proud of.”

As a soccer standout, the Virginian-Pilot called Chris “extremely quick” and noted the he had “complete mastery of the ball at high speeds.” The sports world quickly saw that Chris had tremendous appeal to the fans sitting in the stands - helping ODU set attendance records at soccer games. “With his explosive speed, quickness and ball-handling ability,” the Virginian-Pilot concluded, “fans sense that something exciting is about to happen every time he touches the ball.”

That “excitement” transcended his college career. Chris turned professional. He was the number one pick for the Baltimore Blast of the Major Soccer League and continued to demonstrate his passion and love for the game.

During his pro career, Chris kept the dream alive - conducting soccer camps - coaching young players up and down the east coast. And, when it was time to leave pro soccer - he knew it was time to finally take the dream - and make it reality.

After a lifetime of hard work that provided him with exceptional success on the soccer field, the dream was realized when he opened the doors to WISC in 2000.

His philosophy about WISC is the same today as when he first began - an unwavering commitment to coaching, teaching, and encouraging young people.

“We strive to help young people unlock the potential inside each one of them - to teach them what I call 'life lessons' - that discipline, hard work, perseverance, patience, dedication and unselfishness not only pay off in the sports world - but more importantly - in life.”

“It's extremely important to prepare kids for life and we're delighted we can accomplish that through sports,” said Chris.

“Helping young people - that's what energizes me - that's what motivates me.”