Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 6, 1992 TAG: 9202060568
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
EX-FOES NOW FRIENDS
BOBBY Dixon has been coaching at Roanoke Valley Christian for 19 years in one capacity or another.Lately, Dixon has been turning out girls' basketball teams that are always fighting for the Blue Ridge Conference championship as well as playing much larger schools from the Roanoke Valley District.
Now in his sixth season, Dixon's teams have gone 95-40. This year, the Eagles are unbeaten in Blue Ridge Conference play with losses only to Franklin County, William Fleming and Patrick Henry of the Roanoke Valley District, and one in a tip-off tournament to Roanoke Catholic.
It's amazing because last year Dixon had to overcome the burden of the Eagles' biggest rival, Berean Christian, closing its doors. He received several players from Berean, but with the influx of talent came the problem of convincing players who once wanted to beat each other in basketball that they were playing together.
It has worked out well in the case of Denae Wegner, a senior transfer from Berean, and Brandi Surkamer, a junior. They are Roanoke Valley Christian's two leading scorers with double-figure averages and off the court are great friends.
That wasn't the case when Wegner transferred to Roanoke Valley Christian.
"It was tough to come here because I had played against Roanoke Valley Christian and didn't like them."
Wegner didn't make a lot of friends right away. "I thought having players from Berean Christian would be fine and make the team better," says Surkamer.
"But we [Wegner and Surkamer] didn't talk until basketball season. It seemed weird having a person I played against play with me. But I remember telling her that once basketball season began, it would be better."
Surkamer was right. "We're pretty good friends now. We put aside our differences on the basketball court," said Surkamer. "On weekends, we go out together."
"Everyone knows everyone at these schools. I've known everyone here since elementary school," said Surkamer.
Dixon said transfers from Berean Christian to his school had another problem. "They had to learn a new system, what I expected of them. I don't believe they were used to being coached by a man," said Dixon.
Wegner started to play as a sixth-grader at Berean. Surkamer had no interest in basketball at that age.
"Coach Dixon got me interested in basketball as a seventh-grader. He told me to come try out after I had come to open gym. Before then I was just a cheerleader in rec league."
Dixon's basketball hasn't been limited to coaching. He's also a veteran football and basketball official and calls some games in both sports during the winter and fall seasons.
Several years ago, Dixon even found himself in a unusual situation of having coached against a Roanoke Valley District team and then officiating one of that school's games after the RVC season had ended.
"I think being both a coach and official kind of helps. You know basically what you can get by with and what you can't," said Dixon on dealing with officials in his games.
"Also it helps to be a coach when you officiate because you don't want to call a five-and-dime [cheap] foul. You basically want to let the kids play because they've put in too much hard work. You simply look for an advantage and disadvantage when you're officiating or otherwise, you let them play."
Dixon has his team play some Roanoke Valley District teams each year even though he knows they'll have a hard time competing because those teams have five or six times the enrollment of his school. He does that because games against that level of competition help them get ready for the Blue Ridge Conference tournament, which the Eagles have yet to win.
"That's our goal, to win the tournament this year and get a [championship] banner to hang in our gym," said Dixon.