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Athlete Spotlight: Billy Harrington

Virginia, USA | Fairfax County Fire Department

Team Fairfax Promotes Unity On and Off the Ice

Team sports can be a challenge for first responders to assemble enough available athletes from one service, so some of the Ice Hockey teams coming to Birmingham for the 2025 World Police & Fire Games blend services. One example is Team Fairfax, a police and fire team led by their captain Billy Harrington, 50, who is also a Captain with the Fairfax,Virginia County Fire Department.

 

Billy has brought teams to three WPFG events and was the hands-down choice to be their captain. “I grew up in Northern Minnesota and played hockey all my life,” he says. “When I came into the fire department, the team that was already established was kind of falling apart. I took over from my first day.” 

The job of team captain is more than just directing play on the ice. “I’m also team manager, doing the room bookings and travel arrangements, moving gear, organizing jerseys and uniforms and getting the pucks and the water bottles, a lot of logistics are involved with it,” he explains. “Come game day, it's difficult because I don't have time to focus on my playing. I'm usually busy with all the logistics and then I'm getting dressed and ready and trying to play a game.”

The effort is worth it for the team chemistry that carries over. “The locker room is a fun, sacred place. You learn a lot about each other,” Billy says. “We bond not just in the locker room and on the ice, but we also do events outside of it. We go to dinners and events. In Birmingham, we'll get some good restaurant recommendations for a team meal and other things to do together.

“That familiarity translates to when we're in the field,” he continues. “It’s great to be on the scene of a call and see a familiar face and you're shaking hands and hugging each other. When we play against each other we have friendly banter. But when we play together, we work together like out in the street. It's a common goal and mission.”

Given this unity, Billy says there’s no fighting on the ice. “We do a police versus fire game every year for charity, and everyone's asking us, ‘You going to fight? You going to fight?’ No, we're not!”

By Del Moon

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