Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505080060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The only other points by a Roanoke City middle school in either division came from Woodrow Wilson, whose boys scored six and girls scored two. There were no entries from the other middle schools in the City of Roanoke.
Ten years ago, the middle school division - then the junior high portion of the Cosmo - was dominated by the city's schools. Ruffner scored more than 100 points to win the boys' title, and Woodrow Wilson (107 1/2) won the girls' division. Ruffner was second, with 100. Each of the Roanoke schools entered teams.
What has happened in track and field at the City of Roanoke's middle schools has happened in athletics in general at Patrick Henry and William Fleming, the city's high schools.
Except for the boys' basketball programs at both schools - and the football program at Patrick Henry occasionally - the two largest schools in this part of the state have been in a downward spiral in most sports.
William Fleming's wrestling team used to dominate; that no longer happens. Patrick Henry had won the Cosmo girls' title four years in a row; this spring, the Patriots scored three points.
The Roanoke schools' downfall can be traced to a decision several years ago to stress participation over competition for spots on teams at the middle school level, turning some varsity teams into little more than intramural squads.
While school officials in Roanoke endorsed the concept, middle schools in other districts ran their athletic programs as they had in the past, focusing on developing athletes for the high schools.
Dave Osborne, PH's athletic director, tells a horror story of parents at one city middle school calling to complain that there were 39 players on a basketball team and each played about a minute.
``The concept is that everyone participates and no one is cut from a team,'' said Howard Light, the director of health and physical education for the City of Roanoke's schools.
Recently, administrators in the city have seen the need for a change.
``We've set up some guidelines,'' Light said. ``Everyone realizes we have to be more competitive. When we adopted the middle school concept [over junior highs], this was part of it. We're going to put more emphasis on competing against each other and having competitive teams'' on the middle school level.
``My understanding is that there will be more emphasis put on all sports in [middle] schools next year,'' Osborne said. ``I think next year in the Cosmopolitan you'll see all schools represented.''
Osborne said many youngsters coming into high school programs in the city aren't prepared for high school competition.
``When we had junior high leagues, kids came to high school and had played in a team-oriented program,'' he said. ``They knew about rules and officiating, all that sort of thing.
``Now they come and don't have a team-oriented background. Take tennis, for instance. We don't have a junior varsity, so kids come and say in order for them to play, they have to make the varsity. If they have never played on a competitive basis in middle schools, they don't have a chance. So we try to have as many junior varsity teams as possible for that reason.''
The boys' basketball programs at Fleming and PH - until this past season - have declined the least. Maybe that's because basketball players are developed in AAU and summer programs, so the lack of middle school competition doesn't hurt as much.
And if you're wondering why Ruffner is the only city team to remain fairly competitive in middle school track, that's because Fleming coach Rudy Dillard teaches at Ruffner.
``They know I'm the coach at Fleming working at Ruffner, so a lot of kids come up and talk to me about track,'' said Dillard, whose boys' team won the Cosmo and whose girls finished a close second to Group AA power Christiansburg. ``They see our kids out for track and that might create some interest. But unless we get some more participation in the middle school, we're going down.''
ON THE WRONG TRACK: The Roanoke Valley District will hold its track meet May 18 - at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg.
Five RVD schools have to travel 50 to 100 miles to hold a meet at the track of a non-member schoolbecause tracks at the five district schools aren't good enough to allow competitors to post strong qualifying performances for the Northwestern Region meet.
The City of Roanoke should be the most embarrassed. Roanoke has no track facilities and a history of doing very little to help the sport. Franklin County has a bond issue in the works to finance a proper facility, but Cave Spring in Roanoke County is in the same fix as the Roanoke city schools.
Salem put a lot of money into upgrading its track facility. That school district has facilities as fine as any in the state, but Salem grew tired of RVD teams - which use the Salem Civic Center as a neutral site for regional basketball games - asking to use its facilities as if they were their own.
TRACK SCORING: There seems to be some confusion about the scoring for this year's state track and field meets.
The new scoring system, under which points will be awarded through eight places instead of six, was passed at the March meeting of the Virginia High School League legislative council but will not go into effect until the 1995-96 school year.
Why is this important? If Larry Jones, PH's outstanding hurdler and jumper, can recover from a pulled muscle in time for the state meet, he could team with weight man Richie Mason and sprinter Jamie Price to score about 30 points in the Group AAA meet. In some years, that is enough to win a state championship.
The eight-place scoring system rewards teams with a lot of depth and hurts those relying on two or three quality performers, so PH would have almost no chance to compete for a state title under the new rules.
The 1988 William Byrd boys claimed the Group AA title as David Shell and Derek Hodges scored 34 points in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. The Terriers had 38 to nip second-place Rustburg, which scored 35.
KICKING THEMSELVES: It was most disappointing when only two soccer coaches - boys or girls - responded to this spring's first call for Timesland statistics. Followers of soccer traditionally complain that their sport gets too little attention, but in this case the coaches are partly to blame.
When statistics are taken again this week, there will be a scoring change for soccer to conform with NCAA rules. Goals will be worth two points and assists one in individual statistics. Previously, goals and assists had been worth one point each.
by CNB