Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9505020041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Paid attendance for the wrestling tournaments came to a little more than 6,500 spectators, with 3,800-plus at Great Bridge in Chesapeake for the Group AAA finals and 2,743 at the Salem Civic Center for the Group AA and A championships.
In basketball at Liberty University, the Group AA and A boys' finals drew 2,581 and the Group AAA boys' and girls' totals came to 1,499 for a total of 4,080 paid.
Is wrestling simply more popular than basketball among Virginia's high school fans? The question is loaded. The state wrestling finals were held at sites convenient to two of the more rabid followings in the state - Grundy in Group AA and Great Bridge in Group AAA. Followers of those two programs pushed wrestling attendance dramatically higher.
It also shows the VHSL is not taking advantage of basketball, which should be it's No.2 revenue-producer behind only football. It has already been discussed in this column that the VHSL needs to revamp its thinking to make more money from the state semifinal and championship football games.
In basketball, had E.C. Glass (Group AAA boys) or Liberty (Group AA) found its way into a championship game at Liberty University in Lynchburg, basketball would have outdrawn wrestling. But you can't count on any team making it to the finals.
An example of basketball's drawing power, if the sport is promoted properly, can be seen in the Northern Region tournament. That region invites 16 schools - boys and girls - for a weeklong extravaganza. It is legal to have as many as four representatives from a district, though it ruins the tournament concept that says, if you lose a game, you're eliminated.
The Northern Region, usually playing in a gym with 5,000 seats or more within a few miles of all schools, consists of 30 total games. This year, it took in $86,000, which computes to nearly $3,000 per contest.
For state tournament basketball to be a big draw in Virginia, the VHSL must move the show to Richmond, get a corporate sponsor, go to all night games except for the finals on Saturday and promote like crazy.
Liberty did an outstanding job running the state tournament, but no one is going to sell many basketball tickets in Lynchburg unless a couple of home teams make the finals.
STATE TOURNAMENT COMING: A state high school basketball tournament will be coming to Roanoke the next two winters, but it won't be the VHSL version. North Cross will play host to the Virginia Independent Schools Division I and II tournaments.
The Raiders won a pair of VIS championships before the association split into divisions. This winter, Carlisle swept to the Division II title.
The 1996 tournament will be played Feb.29 through March 2, which puts it up against the public school regional tournaments at sites to be determined and the Group AA and A wrestling championships in Salem.
``About four or five years ago, the VIS decided the tournament should move around the state,'' said Jim Muscaro, North Cross' athletic director and boys' basketball coach. ``It's been in Northern Virginia the last three years, and it was in the Norfolk area about four or five years before that,''
Muscaro, the coach of the Raiders' two state championship teams, didn't seek the host's role because he is going to have a strong club. He just wanted the tournament in this area.
Even if a Timesland team doesn't make the state tournament, there will be a seniors all-star game before the two championship contests that might include Timesland players from the private schools. North Cross' Hal Johnson turned down a bid to play in this year's all-star game.
There will be four Division I quarterfinals Thursday, semifinals in both divisions on Friday and the finals plus the all-star contest on Saturday. First-round games are played at home sites.
NOT MOVING: Glenvar has decided it won't move from the Pioneer District to the Three Rivers District after the next school year.
``It was a tie vote'' among the head coaches, said Roger Martin, the Highlanders' athletic director. ``This came after we had held several discussions and done some research on the advantages of staying in the Pioneer and not staying. We had said that if it came out a tie, we wouldn't go.''
A GOOD CHOICE: North Cross' Johnson, who was the second-leading passer in Timesland during the fall, will make his college choice between Virginia and Princeton. Either would be a good destination for Johnson, who always has put academics ahead of sports.
Johnson might have attracted some scholarship attention at a lower level, but he will try to play football at whichever school he chooses.
ADDITIONAL STEP: Sandy Hadaway, Salem's athletic director, has been recognized by the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations as a certified athletic administrator.
Hadaway is part of more than 5,200 member athletic directors in 50 states who are dedicated to promoting the professional growth of high school athletic administrators and preserving the educational nature of interscholastic athletics and the place of these programs in the secondary school curriculum.
To gain certification, Hadaway had to pass a comprehensive written test, as well as undergo an evaluation of her educational background, experience and professional contributions.
STATS POLICY: To avoid a misunderstanding when Timesland statistics are taken next week, coaches need to include all games through Saturday. Some coaches sent statistics after Thursday's games. The noon deadline on Friday was to nominate players and teams for the week's best performances, which run on Saturday sand not for the statistical leaders that run on Tuesdays.
by CNB