By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
NORTH SHELBY –
Briarwood Christian School has a new face to its athletic department, but it’s a familiar face to the school as Sara Wilson steps in as athletic director.
BCS officially announced on Monday, June 9 that Wilson will take over as the school’s athletic director beginning in the 2025-26 academic year.
“I am so honored and blessed to step into this position at Briarwood Christian School,” Wilson said. “The Lord has taken me on quite a journey over the past seven years at this school, preparing me every step of the way for this opportunity. I’m grateful to David Nilsson for trusting me and partnering with me to run our athletics department, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead.”
It’s a historic appointment for BCS as Wilson is the first female athletic director in school history. Wilson is also the only female athletic director at Shelby County’s 16 high schools. The most recent female AD was Pelham’s Kim Kiel, who stepped aside for Trey Simpson in 2023 to focus on her role as principal. She now serves as Pelham City Schools assistant superintendent.
Wilson takes over for Chris Heaps, who served as athletic director for one year. The Briarwood varsity baseball coach will now move into an assistant AD role alongside Carson Peterson.
The trio will serve alongside Head of Athletics David Nilsson. Previously hired in September 2024, Nilsson uses his past experience as the Australia national baseball team’s manager to oversee the development and implementation of athletic programs across all ages at the school.
By contrast, Wilson will oversee the nuts and bolts of BCS athletics, including gameday logistics, booster club membership and communication and the school’s Dragonfly, GoFan and NFHS Network webpages.
“Sara has a deep understanding of Briarwood Athletics and will be a great addition for all staff and families involved,” Nilsson said. “Specifically, I look forward to working with her to continually improve all aspects of athletics as we shift to a high-level performance model at Briarwood.”
Wilson has served multiple roles at Briarwood Christian School since arriving in 2018, including two years as a government, economics and U.S. history teacher from 2018-20. On the athletics side, she coached middle school girls basketball during that same two-year stretch before taking a two-year break from the sidelines.
She most recently coached JV girls basketball from 2023-25 while also serving as the assistant principal for the ninth and 10th grades. Wilson also has prior experience as the women’s athletic director and student life director at Briarwood.
Wilson is also a former college athlete at Rhodes College, where she played four seasons of basketball and one year of softball before graduating in 2001.
Through her time as a basketball coach, women’s athletic director and a parent to two Briarwood students, former volleyball setter Mia Wilson and rising sophomore Yates Wilson, she has cultivated relationships with many of the current Briarwood coaches. Wilson looks forward to building on that foundation as she takes over as athletic director.
“I feel like I’m in a unique position here because as I think through our roster of coaches, there are very few who I don’t have a personal connection with,” Wilson said. “They have coached my children, and I’ve coached theirs. They have taught my children in the classroom, and I have taught theirs. Their kids are friends with mine. I feel like I have a great relationship with most of our coaches already which makes this transition so much smoother for me as I step into the role of AD.”
