Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407230035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Games has tried to be both and has been rewarded with a double image on both ends of the competence scale.
While the soccer competition has slipped, for example, basketball produced perhaps its best field in last week's 1994 Games. The Games, though it touts its ties to the U.S. Olympic Committee, never has sponsored high-profile Olympic sports boxing and diving, and gymnastics and team volleyball have fizzled after being held in earlier years.
In '93, those four sports combined were held in about two-thirds of the 29 other state games festivals, according to National Congress of State Games figures. The Commonwealth Games holds 14 of the 26 summer Olympic sports, although its cycling and handball competitions differ from the true Olympics.
Meanwhile, the Games has added "sports" such as chess, disc golf and indoor rock climbing.
A five-year plan under discussion by Virginia Amateur Sports, which runs the Games, will be the Games' first long-term road map when it is approved this summer. It will take VAS on two highways - participation and quality - that Pete Lampman, VAS executive director, believes can keep the Games attractive to athletes and spectators, not to mention the sponsors whose money floats the event.
"We are the state games of Virginia, and people are going to go back home and say they won a medal in the state games, and that's important in everybody's mind," Lampman said this week, days after the '94 Games ended. "At the same time, I think it's important we don't cut out the [recreational] athlete [for whom the Games are] all they do have."
VAS' plan for the Games may include, Lampman said, targeting a handful of team sports (or possibly track and field or gymnastics) in which to sponsor all-star competition. And though the bloated Games may pare the number of events, it won't do so without at least a one-year grace period for each sport to meet guidelines on numbers of athletes, for example.
Cutting some sports and improving others will reveal the Games' commitment to Olympic sports and recreational sports. Lampman doesn't fault a pledge to each.
"I guess I'd like to get the best of both worlds," said Lampman, who later in an interview stressed the importance of gymnastics and soccer, two high-participation, high-visibility sports whose summer schedules have given VAS trouble.
"The Games itself [is] going to continue to be very successful whether or not we have all the sports. I think it's important we get sports that are highly visible.
"I don't think we've thrown our hands up. [It's] what can we do to make it happen? The door's not shut [on gymnastics]," he said. "We really need to find that key regional person to make [soccer] happen."
That will depend on how much influence the Games have on statewide amateur sports, which will depend in part on the Games' credibility and how much staff and money the Games have to pursue long-term goals.
Regional feeder events - talked about by Games officials for a few years - are probably a couple of years away at best, and even then likely will involve only a few sports.
Lampman said there's informal talk among state games organizations of creating a "national state games" event that would produce mythical national champions in selected sports. A high-caliber event like that could help brush away some of the skepticism even Lampman admits exists toward state sports festivals.
Non-Roanoke Valley media outlets doubt the worthiness of covering the Games in part because they aren't sure of the level of competition, and Lampman admits some corporate sponsors prefer aligning themselves with "elite" sports or athletes as opposed to recreational events.
Lampman, however, can see corporate dollars appearing if, for example, Roanoke hosted the first National Congress of State Games basketball championship.
As long as VAS has enough money to put on the Games and survive - and that's about all it does have - the Games is most interested in feedback from athletes and families, as it has been since former VAS executive director Doug Fonder created the event in 1989.
A video of the '94 Games available from VAS, Lampman said, chronicles the biggest event ever (around 7,500 athletes) and is a happy commentary on the Games. Many answered positively when asked if they like coming to Roanoke?
Lampman worries only that Roanoke may tire of having the hordes come. It's likely the Games will stroke any sport promising big numbers - both for the economic impact in the Roanoke Valley, and because encouraging participation by athletes of all skill levels is a tenet of the National Congress of State Games.
"We'll probably always have some type of perception problem [by] letting all amateur athletes be involved," Lampman said. "Unfortunately, people in America look at the level of competition, or who wins the gold. [But] it's a festival of sports. We are Virginia's Olympics."
Scott Blanchard has covered the Commonwealth Games since 1992.
by CNB