Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503210035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It won't be in the form of an all-star game, such as the many that are held each summer. This competition will be next weekend between schools from Virginia and Tennessee in a border battle on fields in the Bristol, Tenn., area.
Each state will be represented by schools - eight from Virginia and nine from Tennessee - that will be matched for 16 games. A victory will be worth two points and a tie worth one to determine the winning state in the Pepsi-Arby's Bristol Soccer Showcase.
The tournament is patterned after golf's Ryder Cup, but it shapes up as a battle of Timesland teams vs. Tennessee squads . North Cross, William Byrd, Salem, Patrick Henry, Franklin County and Martinsville will join E.C. Glass and Virginia High School, the co-host along with Tennessee High School, as representatives of this state in two games each.
Tennessee will be represented by nine teams, so Bearden and Oak Ridge will play only one game each. North Cross will face those two teams and, in Oak Ridge, the Raiders likely have drawn the toughest entry from the Volunteer State. Oak Ridge generally is one of Tennessee's AAA soccer powers.
``We played in a tournament with three Tennessee teams and won it three or four years ago,'' said Richard Cook, the North Cross coach. ``I didn't like the fields and didn't go back. They started another tournament and invited some Virginia teams a year ago. Patrick Henry went down, and now they've expanded it to Tennessee against Virginia with a trophy being awarded.''
These will be the first games of the season for all the teams involved and should provide a good showcase for the sport.
``There will be a lot of college coaches coming in, so it's a good tournament for the start of the season,'' Cook said.
Virginia's strong delegation is led by Byrd and Martinsville, which dominate Region III, as well as three Group AAA schools - Patrick Henry, E.C. Glass and Franklin County. Salem, which gave Byrd a run in the Blue Ridge District last year, also could be a factor.
North Cross, though a private school, usually is one of the top three or four teams in Timesland. The only area power not in the field is perennial Group AA contender Blacksburg.
Will this tournament actually promote camaraderie among schools that are used to trying to beat each other on the field?
``I think so,'' Cook said. ``It's a nice idea to bring a little unity in a sense to the Roanoke Valley players. Although this is the first year and it takes time for a tradition to develop, when we're there and watching say Franklin County playing a Tennessee team, we'll be pulling for Franklin County.''
SENDING A MESSAGE: Even after 30 years of covering high school sports, there always is something you haven't heard or seen before.
From those who answer the phones at Caroline High School in Milford comes this recorded reminder of what kind of world we live in: ``Your call is being recorded and traced. Caroline High School.''
Nice of them to let you known you've reached a high school and not a police station or a jail. Now I know why former George Wythe and Richlands football coach Billy Haun was so anxious to leave his post there a year ago.
AD OF THE YEAR: Salem's Sandy Hadaway has been named Group AA's athletic director of the year for the state. She will receive her award in April at the state athletic directors' annual meeting. Hadaway also is an assistant principal at Salem.
TOURNAMENT TIME: Lord Botetourt is the latest girls' basketball program to join the field with a season-opening tournament. The Cavaliers pulled out of Floyd County's three-day round-robin event and will hold a similar tournament the first weekend in September.
The Cavaliers landed 1994 Group AA champion R.E. Lee-Staunton as one of the participants. Lee, however, lost most of the players from that unbeaten team, as well as coach Steve Walk, who retired to administration.
The other teams joining Lord Botetourt in the field are Timesland entries Magna Vista and Alleghany.
REALIGNMENT: In a continuing quest to update high school fans about how their favorite Timesland Group AA district will look in two years, we give you this note of the week.
The Seminole District has admitted Heritage, which drops from the Group AAA Western District. If Amherst County is able to come up with an enrollment figure that shows the school still to be Group AA in size, look for Staunton River to lobby hard for a spot in the Blue Ridge District.
Now that the Virginia High School League has set up a committee to look at realignment for regions in all classifications, with a proposal to be made to the new 27-person executive committee, expect Region III and Region IV to be balanced.
The committee will talk to all schools concerned, then come up with its best solution. It does suggest that finally there will be balance in all classifications and all regions.
If the committee suggests Group A-size schools be forced to play in that classification, that would balance Region III and Region IV somewhat. It still would leave something close to an 18-10 split, though, with the 18 in Region III.
The Blue Ridge District still is likely to be placed in Region IV. For now, though, the decision is out of the regions' hands and where it should have been all along - in the hands of the VHSL.
by CNB