THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604230149
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 30 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Martin Ganderson's love of Major League Baseball is evident when you visit his downtown office. Hanging on the attorney's walls are the original contracts of the some of the sport's largest legends, including Carl Yastrzemski and Leo Durocher.
But talk to him for only a few seconds and you'll see he loves the AAU 13-and-under Boo Williams basketball team he coaches even more.
``I love sports to death,'' he says. ``In some ways, I'm a bigger kid than my kids.''
His kids are ``Deuce'' Arrington, ``Stick'' Benson, ``Rookie Butt,'' ``Red'' Davis, ``Mash'' Epps, ``Smooth'' Ganderson, ``Doc'' Harrell, ``Eraser'' Hunt, ``Plebe'' Knippel, ``B.K.'' Kirby and ``Big Mac'' McNeil. The nicknames are part of keeping city league basketball fun and they help to build camaraderie.
Ganderson has coached many of the boys since they were 10 years old. The team, with six middle schools in Norfolk represented on its roster, heads to the state tournament Friday in Charlottesville. The Norfolk team is one of eight teams competing for the chance to advance to the national AAU tournament in Memphis this summer.
The Norfolk team placed third last month in the Eastern Regional tournament in Richmond. The team practices two weeknights per week in either the Maury or the Lake Taylor gyms.
Ganderson became involved in the program after his son, Matthew, started playing AAU ball at age 10, and the nearest team he could find was in Newport News.
``For many of these kids,'' he says, ``this is the highlight of their sports career.''
The Norfolk team meets the 13-and-under team from Culpeper in its first round in the double-elimination tournament. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Martin Ganderson and his Boo Williams team.
by CNB