THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130646
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
School Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. said Tuesday he believes gambling may have occurred in the stands at Norfolk high school games and that he plans to take steps to discourage it from happening again.
``I'm not taking the rumors lightly,'' Nichols said. ``Although I was shocked initially, I think there's enough in the rumor mill for there to be some substance to them. We're going to do our best to prevent high school sports from being tainted by this underworld culture.''
Nichols' pronouncement came a week after police began investigating the alleged fixing of a Maury High School game in the Eastern Region playoffs. Nichols requested the investigation because of persistent rumors that the game - which Green Run won 69-55 in double overtime - may have been fixed.
Some coaches and players said they had seen gambling among spectators at games in Norfolk and other cities, and one former Maury player admitted he was approached by gamblers who wanted him to throw a game.
Allegations also have been made that basketball games at Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk may have been fixed by gamblers last season.
``We're not standing still,'' Nichols said.
Nichols said he is trying to ``do my own investigative work, finding out what our people know and what they don't know.''
Several high school principals have told him that people have reported gambling at basketball games but that no principals had ever witnessed it.
Nichols acknowledged, though, that attempts to monitor games for gambling would be difficult. He made an analogy to smoking in the stands at football games.
``Many times people want us to say we're a smoke-free school system,'' Nichols said. ``But we've always stopped short of barring smoking in football stadiums because it's just too hard to enforce.
``We certainly want to discourage gambling at high school sports. But every time we see someone exchanging dollars in the stands we can't say they're gambling. It could be somebody saying, `Go get me a hot dog.' ''
It would be ``extremely difficult'' to stop someone from gambling, Nichols said, ``unless you had someone with arrest powers sitting right next to them.''
The superintendent said he would allow undercover police in the stands but that it probably would be too costly and impractical for the school system to hire more security guards to patrol the stands. And he said it would be unfair to ask teachers to perform such guard duty.
``I really think that adults who are gambling are a police function,'' Nichols said. ``If our students are caught up in it, it's a school function. We'll do our best to keep our students out of that environment.''
Some ideas Nichols said he is tossing about to prevent gambling are:
Announce on the public-address system before games that gambling in the stands is illegal and won't be tolerated.
Warn athletes and other students that gambling is illegal and that they could be kicked off their team for associating with gamblers.
Ask athletes to report to authorities any person who approaches them about gambling on a game.
Ask police to share information they have on known gamblers.
Allegations that drug dealers might be involved prompted some School Board members last week to step up calls for random drug testing of student athletes. The board first raised the idea at a board meeting in January because of concerns about a reported rise in marijuana use among high schoolers.
Bob Lyons, who has a son at Maury, said school officials need to crack down to ensure that drug dealers and gamblers ``aren't allowed to hang around.''
``I would hope they'd draw the line and say, `Stay away from our kids.' '' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
HOW TO STOP IT
Ideas Norfolk Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. is tossing about to
prevent gambling:
Announcing on the public address system before games that gambling
in the stands is illegal and won't be tolerated.
Warning athletes and other students that gambling is illegal and
that they could be kicked off their team for associating with
gamblers.
Asking athletes to report to authorities any adult that approaches
them about gambling on a game.
Ask police to share information they have on known gamblers.
Photo
Roy D. Nichols Jr. says he is trying to ``do my own investigative
work.''
KEYWORDS: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS GAMBLING BASKETBALL by CNB