Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 9, 1990 TAG: 9007090144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Tom Blue moved from Kansas City, Mo., to Roanoke in 1976 and had to go to Lynchburg to play against U.S. Volleyball Association competition. Then, Blue, a lawyer and California native, suffered a broken ankle in 1980.
"That was when I started to get into volleyball refereeing seriously," said Blue, one of two volleyball coordinators at the Virginia CorEast State Games. "All of my referee work started after I got to Roanoke."
Blue is one of only 18 Americans who are sanctioned International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) referees. That means the Olympics could be in his future, say by 1996. It also means Roanoke has a person who has influence in U.S. volleyball.
Make that persons. Blue's wife, Janet, information officer at Community Hospital's College of Health Sciences, is the national commissioner for scorekeeper development for the USVBA. She will be a scorekeeper later this month at the Goodwill Games in Seattle.
Tom Blue was the initial contact when USA Volleyball brought the national women's team to Salem last month for an exhibition against Japan on a six-city tour.
"I got a letter from USA Volleyball saying how much they loved that," Blue said of the appearance at Bast Center that attracted about 2,000 fans. "It was the biggest crowd in the smallest facility they had on the tour.
"One way or another, they're going to be back."
That U.S.-Japan match was the first event sponsored by Virginia Amateur Sports, which put on its first State Games during the past four days at venues around the Roanoke Valley. Volleyball has been one of the State Games' most popular sports with spectators.
Each day at Carter Center on the North Cross School campus, fans have stood and sat shoulder-to-shoulder around the two courts. Next year, the State Games likely will consider using all three Carter gyms, moving a basketball venue and giving volleyball a feature court with bleachers.
Joel Reinford of Harrisonburg, the Junior Olympic Development chairman for the Old Dominion Region of the USVBA, was co-coordinator with Blue for State Games volleyball. Reinford said that once junior players learn about the State Games experience from their school acquaintances, the competition should be stronger.
"In the future, maybe not as soon as next year, we'd like to have competition for junior boys as well," Reinford said. "There are a very limited number of high schools playing boys' volleyball in Virginia now. There's a lot more interest because of the success of the U.S. men in the Olympics in 1984 and '88."
Blue, who has been a national and NCAA referee since 1983 and received his international certification in 1987, has had a closer look at the growing interest in U.S. volleyball than most.
He was a linesman at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, and last year refereed in the NORCECA (North America, Central America, Caribbean) qualifier for the world championships. He called matches last summer on the U.S.-Soviet tour, the swan song for American stars Karch Kiraly and Steve Timmons.
"It's the second-biggest participatory sport in the world, behind soccer," Blue said of volleyball. "All ages play, and kids start playing because their parents are playing. Recreation leagues across the country are full.
"The Roanoke Valley Volleyball Association runs leagues four seasons a year, on the American Legion grounds during the summer and in Jefferson Gym the other times of the year. They fill that place every night of the week."
Blue said that the USVBA has grown enough nationally that when a Virginia high school hires a coach, "it can get a teacher who has played instead of telling a math teacher he has to coach volleyball."
Blue said USVBA membership is growing at a rate of 10 percent a year. Reinford said that two years ago Virginia had four junior teams. Now there are 18.
"If we limit this [the State Games] to 10 teams next year, we'll be turning them away," Blue said.
by CNB