Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992 TAG: 9203150060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If the Roanoke school system hadn't made a decision several years ago to hire certified athletic trainers, then Patrick Henry might not have won a Group AAA Northwestern Region basketball championship this season. The Patriots also might have played Saturday's Group AAA tournament game against Chantilly without point guard Troy Manns.
The PH senior sprained both ankles in the first quarter of last week's 68-53 victory over Fauquier in the Northwestern title game. Manns and PH trainer Tim Bane hustled back to the dressing room and Manns was back on the floor before the first half ended.
"There's a good possibility he wouldn't have played anymore against Fauquier," Bane said. "It wasn't so much as taping his ankles, but rather it was important to evaluate what was wrong with them. A coach couldn't have done that without knowledge of which specific ligament to look for."
Bane said there are two types of sprained ankles involving different ligaments. If an ankle is taped for the wrong type of sprain, it's defeating the reason to tape in the first place.
Without a trainer, "Troy might have been able to play, then injured it further and that would have meant there was a good possibility he wouldn't have played [against Chantilly] because he wasn't getting proper treatment," Bane said.
Shannon Taylor went down in the same game as Manns. Bane taped him, saw the 6-foot-5 sophomore couldn't play and ruled that he was out for the game. Manns showed he could play, so he went the rest of the game.
Without a trainer, the only solution would have been to send Manns to a doctor. "That might have caused him not to play this week, because the standard reply [from a physician] is to take `x' number of weeks off. That knocks him out of the state playoffs," Bane explained.
When Bayside's Bill King interviewed for the football position at Cave Spring, he said one thing bothered him about the Roanoke County school system - the lack of certified trainers for Roanoke County athletic teams.
So far, the lack of a trainer in Roanoke County and most other Timesland schools, hasn't caused a school to lose a game. We might never know if the lack of a trainer has caused an injured player to miss more time than necessary. But the lesson to be learned from the injuries to Manns is that a certified trainer is a necessity, not a luxury, for any athletic program.
\ Virginia High has seven of the eight teams it needs for its tip-off basketball tournament Dec. 10-11-12.
Among the visiting teams will be William Fleming, Canterbury, Md., Oak Hill Academy, Charlottesville and Charlotte (N.C.) Christian. The home teams will be Virginia High and John Battle.
Charlotte Christian boasts Anton Herbert, a 5-foot-11 guard who has been touted as a mid-Division I prospect. Charlottesville has point guard Tarik Turner, one of the state's better sophomores.
This tournament is so well organized that Virginia High is putting all the visiting teams in the Holiday Inn for three nights, paying for meals and giving them $1,000 to pay expenses.
There also will be a dunking and 3-point shooting contest.
\ Cave Spring opened its baseball season this past Friday at Halifax County.
It was the beginning of what could be the longest spring sports season - three months - in Virginia High School League history. The championship games in both baseball and softball are scheduled for Friday, June 12.
The extended schedule came about because the VHSL decided last year that state tournament games in both softball and baseball would be held at home sites. Because there are quarterfinal games, followed by semifinals, then championships, the state tournament has to be played over a two-week period.
The 1993 spring sports season finishes even later, with state championship games in softball and baseball set for June 18.
\ Noting Timesland:
Shaine Miles of Salem is an All-Group AA football player and an outstanding weight man for the track team, but he also is a standout in an off-the-field competition.
The Spartans' senior, headed to Virginia Tech on a football scholarship, won the Blue Ridge District in extemporaneous debate.
Miles was unable to follow up that victory by competing in the regional debate competition because he spent the first week of this month at the United Nations.
When Patrick Henry's Manns was matched against Chantilly's Franklin in Saturday's Group AAA tournament first-round basketball game at Lord Botetourt, it was the first of what could be many meetings for the two point guards.
Manns committed to George Mason in the early signing period; Franklin, the Northern Region player of the year, committed to American University. Both schools are in the Colonial Athletic Association.
by CNB