The last name Scott carries a large presence in the South Lakes community, and rightfully so. Christy Winters Scott played for the Seahawks Girls Basketball Team, eventually getting her jersey retired by the school. She now broadcasts Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) games, coaches the girls varsity team and is a mother. Her daughter, Brianna, has the chance to be just as good, if not better, than her mother. Some might say this is ludicrous, but it isn’t as crazy as it may seem. 

This all started in first grade when Brianna began playing basketball. She started playing with her friends, and stuck with the sport ever since. She never wavered from basketball, the sport she loves (though she also plays volleyball in the fall). This season, she has very high ambitions, albeit, very attainable ones. 

“We want to cut nets, for sure. District championships, we’ve gotten there two straight years but we haven’t won. We want to win it this year, though,” Brianna said. The intensity level, she says, is much higher than in years past. “We’ve just been working harder, pushing ourselves harder,” she explains. She thinks that the team does have the potential to get to districts as long as they keep working hard. 

Brianna reveres the time she has spent playing basketball because of all the lessons it has taught her, “Basketball teaches on and off the court. I’ve learned discipline and patience, and I can apply that to my actual life outside of basketball,” she says. 

Who does she look up to? Her mom, of course. “[My mom] went here, her jersey is retired here. I can go anywhere in Reston and people know her. I want to be like that, too. I think that is so cool,” Brianna goes onto say. As much as she looks up to her mom, she wants to leave her legacy as Brianna Scott, instead of Christy’s daughter, “My mom does a great job of letting me be my own person and do things on my own. She has impacted so many people and I want to do that, but I want to do that as myself.”

A player, no matter what level, has to be able to assess their own strengths and weaknesses. She thinks that she is good at being a good teammate: encouraging her peers and being supportive. Conversely, she thinks that if she had to work on something, that it would have to be handling pressure in games. 

Another thing Brianna strives to be is a role model for the next generation of female athletes saying, “Don’t let anyone discourage you. A girl can be just as good at basketball as a guy. As long as you have the mindset, there is nothing you can’t accomplish.” 

Throughout the process, the internal question of “what defines an athlete?” was thought of and discussed. Brianna is everything Christy would want as a daughter: driven, grounded, and motivated. It doesn’t seem to matter to Brianna that her mom’s legendary #51 jersey hangs above her during every home game. She wants to put her jersey right next to her mom’s when it is all said and done. With all that she has accomplished so far, who is to say she can’t?