The Sandy Spring Athletic Association ("SSAA") was founded in 2012 as a not-for-profit youth sports organization. We are dedicated to promoting a safe and secure recreational environment for young athletes.
SSAA has a lineage that can be traced through many decades beginning in the mid-1950’s. It began as a member of the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) football program as the St. Peter’s Panthers. At the conclusion of the 1994 season, the Archdiocese of Washington (ADW) discontinued the CYO football program, and teams were left to join other leagues, ending what had been a great community environment for many years. St. Peter’s decided to maintain its program, and at the same time expanded it to include a competitive lacrosse offering. Both programs remained successful until the fall of 2012, when policy changes at the ADW forced the dissolution of football and lacrosse. Thus was born the Sandy Spring Falcons!
In 2013, the Association added select baseball and fielded its first select baseball team. That one team turned into 3 baseball teams in 2014 which grew to 7 baseball teams in the fall of 2015. During the 2023 spring baseball season, the Sandy Spring Falcons baseball program fielded 10 baseball teams from 8U to 18U.
Over the years there have been many young people pass through the program, some of whom have gone on to become extremely successful in their own right. Several lacrosse alumni have played or are playing major college Division I lacrosse. Many of our football alumni have gone on to play at one of several top regional high school football programs and then on to play in college. Many baseball alumni now play for Sherwood, Good Counsel and Magruder High Schools.
We are very grateful to those who kept the program alive for all these years. It is important for us to convey that we are dedicated to maintaining the legacy of those who came before us and to recognize and remember our history and roots. We love to win as much as anyone, but we refuse to compromise our philosophy for the sake of victories. Our victories come after the players leave our program and go on to high school and college. There they can continue to use the lessons learned on the fields of competition to grow mentally, physically and socially.
