Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 6, 1995 TAG: 9505090007
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Roanoke RiverDawgs will throw area soccer fans a bone tonight when they play the first home game of their inaugural season.
Owners of the Dawgs hope it's juicy enough to keep spectators craving more of the team.
``Hopefully, we'll put on a good enough show that they'll want to come back,'' said Doug Fonder, the team's general manager, who is planning such events as cookouts and youth games in conjunction with RiverDawgs games in an attempt to attract crowds.
``We have no expectations, so people are going to leave it or like it based on what they see,'' Fonder said. ``There will be different and interesting things to keep it exciting. We're definitely centering things around a family atmosphere.''
The Dawgs lost to the Myrtle Beach Boyz 5-2 on April 29 in their opener in the United Systems of Independent Soccer League. Roanoke plays tonight against the Columbia (S.C.) Heat at 7:30 at Cave Spring Junior High School. Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for students.
RiverDawgs players have been visiting schools around the area to promote the team. They put on soccer demonstrations and hand out bumper stickers, camp brochures and discount tickets to upcoming games.
``We feel the best marketing is direct, and by that I mean go right at the kids,'' said Fonder, who estimated 5,000 youth in the area are involved in soccer with almost 500 playing in the Roanoke Valley Youth Soccer Club.
Originally, Fonder said the club would need to average 1,000 fans in its 10 home games for the owners to break even. However, he hopes the crowds will be more in the range of 1,500 to 2,000.
The team's target market is the Roanoke Valley, but includes localities within a one-hour radius. With that in mind, the RiverDawgs' roster includes some familiar names.
``We didn't necessarily say we had to have Roanoke people to make an impact, but there are some high-level soccer players in the valley and the young kids here have heard their names,'' Fonder said.
Among those recognizable players are three All-Americans from Roanoke College: Dustin Fonder, Grayson Prillaman and Aaron Ewert.
Dustin Fonder, a midfielder who played at the North Cross School, was the NCAA Division III field player of the year in 1993. Ewert, the starting goalkeeper, played at Patrick Henry High School and was a three-time All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference selection. Prillaman, another North Cross star who will play midfielder for the Dawgs, was with the USISL's Washington Mustangs last year.
Lang Wedemeyer, who played at Patrick Henry, Virginia Tech and Old Dominion (where he was an Academic All-American), is a defender for the Dawgs. Roanoke also has Dante Washington, a former All-American at Radford and a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.
Teams may suit up 18 players per game (with a maximum of six foreign players) from a 26-man roster. Of those 26, three must be under-19 developmental players. For the Dawgs, those players are Tait Duus, John Prillaman and Ryan Moore, all of Roanoke.
The USISL has 91 teams playing in 10 divisions. Seven of the divisions are strictly professional. The other three, including Roanoke's Eastern Division, are designated as Premier (amateur), which allows them to include current college players.
Members of Roanoke's team are not paid but are compensated with housing and through the Top Dawg Soccer Camps that will run June 19 through Aug.4. However, the professional teams may pay their athletes, which has created a wide disparity among the league's teams, Doug Fonder said.
For example, Tony Meola, captain of the 1994 U.S. World Cup team, recently signed with the USISL's Long Island Rough Riders, reportedly for $100,000 a year.
The Dawgs' 21-game schedule includes teams within their division and some teams on the pro side of the league, which crowns a separate champion at the end of the season. Besides Columbia, Roanoke also plays Birmingham (Ala.), Richmond, Washington and Nashville (Tenn.) within its division.
by CNB