THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411230604
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
After 29 years of suffering through ``baby brother'' syndrome, James Church will get the long-awaited chance to show his older brothers a thing or two.
When three of the family's 10 siblings compete in the 27th annual Joy Fund Charity Bowl on Thanksgiving Day, Church will take on brothers Daniel and Anthony for the very first time.
As the youngest in the family, James Church has had to suffer the wrath of his brothers and sisters. He - as most younger siblings - suffered through the daily physical and verbal abuse of shoving and shouting matches.
He got the leftovers at meal time and the hand-me-down clothes.
His older brothers wouldn't even allow him to play with them in neighborhood pick-up football games.
``They were afraid I was going to get hurt,'' said Church, a 1987 graduate of Booker T. Washington High.
But through it all, he got stronger.
And after a successful collegiate career and a three-year flirtation with different levels of professional football, Church is finally going to get a crack at Daniel and Anthony when the 11 a.m. action starts at the Center for Effective Learning stadium on Witchduck Road just south of Virginia Beach Boulevard.
``I'm the baby of 10 and they used to always beat up on me,'' said Church, who was an All-Yankee Conference wide receiver his senior year at the University of Richmond.
Church also set a Spiders record for most catches in a season in 1986 with 67 - including three touchdowns and one two-point conversion.
``Before I went to college, I was always too little for them,'' he smiled. ``They wouldn't let me do anything with them.
``Now, I'm gonna get to beat on them a little bit. Now, they'll get to see what I can do to them.''
Church will play wide receiver for the Beach-Eastern team. Anthony (Indian River, 1976) and Daniel (Indian River, 1978) will play linebackers for the Southeastern team.
They will go head-to-head on several occasions.
James Church - who is the president of the Central Bayside Athletic Association and a supervisor at the Ford Motor Credit Company - thinks he will have the edge on his older brothers.
``I played with the (Oakland) Raiders during the strike season and played with Toronto in Canada and the Orlando Predators in the arena league,'' he said. ``I played with the Tidewater Sharks the last three years before retiring from football.
``But I've kept myself in pretty good shape through the years. Before, being younger than my brothers was to their advantage. Now, they're older and being young is to my advantage.
``They aren't going to be able to keep up with me. They better hope for some help out there.'' ILLUSTRATION: FILE Photo
Booker T. Washington graduate James Church was an All-Yankee
Conference wide receiver at Richmond. He also played as a
replacement for the LA Raiders during the 1987 NFL players' strike.
GAMEWATCH
JOY FUND CHARITY BOWL
What: Football game matching area ex-high school players from the
Eastern and Beach districts against those from Southeastern
District
Where: Center for Effective Learning stadium on Witchduck Road in
Virginia Beach
When: Thanksgiving Day, 11 a.m.
Tickets: $4 each , available at the game. All proceeds go to the
Joy Fund to provide gifts for needy children at Christmas
by CNB