Nicholas Siano joins the Potomac Falls family as Athletic Director, bringing a new philosophy, attitude, and look to Potomac Falls athletics.

When you made the turn onto the Potomac Falls campus in August, did any new improvements catch your attention? Maybe it was external changes, like the newly designed wraps that cover the front softball field. Or looking a bit closer, maybe you noticed the new uniforms that fall athletes have been sporting. These new updates, and many more, can be accredited to the newfound leadership of Nicholas Siano, Potomac Falls’ latest Athletic Director.

Siano began his professional career in Boca Raton, Florida as a teacher and baseball coach, later moving to Virginia and becoming a teacher at Riverside High School and Assistant Athletic Director at Heritage High School in Leesburg, Virginia. However, his wish to go into athletics began at a much younger age. 

“I played sports through high school and into college, and I knew that athletics was kind of my calling. My high school athletic director was very influential, a big influence in my life. And I felt like this would be a way that I could then repay that to the students wherever I’m at,” said Siano. 

Potomac Falls offered Siano a warm welcome at the end of last school year upon the retirement of Mike Sipe, former Potomac Falls Athletic Director, who held the job since 2003. Siano summed up his first few weeks on the job by saying, “The experience has been awesome. Everybody is awesome. The administration team is great. The teachers, the students, everybody has been awesome. Our coaches are great to work for.”

Siano is focusing his first year at Potomac Falls on setting a foundation based upon the culture and expectations of having fun. He feels driven by the “great community that Potomac Falls has” and plans on helping the students and athletes make the school even better than it already is. Siano also gives credit to the Booster Club for helping the athletic department move forward with new projects and renovations.

Siano has a strong insight on his priorities as an Athletic Director, saying “I pride myself on the students having a good experience. This is, I believe, the best four years of a student’s life. So I want them to come and enjoy high school, whether that’s athletically, whether that’s in theater, or in band, or just being a normal student and coming in and experiencing high school sports, to just come out and have a good time.”

The evidence of Siano’s passion for athletics is already evident around the campus in just the few months that he has been working at Potomac Falls. A few of Siano’s external projects include new scoreboards and wraps on the press box, the funding of which can be accredited to the Booster Club. New windscreens have also been put into the entrance to the school and football stadium; there are also plans to get new windscreens for the baseball and softball fields with the school’s updated branding.

One of the more obvious and time-consuming projects is the addition to the weight room, which began at the end of the 2021-2022 school year and is still in progress. Along with the goal of finishing these ongoing projects, Siano is putting an emphasis on encouraging more participation in sports. 

“We haven’t had some teams just because we haven’t had enough participation. JV softball, for example. I would hope to have at the end of this first year that we have a JV softball team. We didn’t have a freshman girls basketball team last year, so I hope to have that. So that is a short term goal, to have all of our teams fully working or functional,” said Siano. Adding onto this short term goal, Siano hopes to continue to grow upon the successes that Potomac Falls’ athletics have had. 

Hoping that an upgrade in facilities will also bring an upgrade of attitude, Siano is focused on doing whatever it takes to maximize the student experience. 

Behind these new ideas, though, is someone who has his own inspirations and enjoyments. Siano gives the title of his biggest inspiration to his wife. Favorite movie? “Rudy.” Favorite book? “‘You Win In the Locker Room First’” by John Gordon. Starbucks Order? “Trenta Strawberry Acai Refresher.” And finally, a life motto? “Enjoy life. Tomorrow is never promised.”