Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 14, 1995 TAG: 9507140108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Now, it's time for the Commonwealth Games of Virginia to prosper. The opening ceremonies of the sixth annual state games - the ones sanctioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the real state games, not the Virginia State Games in Richmond - are scheduled tonight at Victory Stadium.
The Roanoke Valley will be overflowing with prospectors for gold, silver and bronze this weekend. Most of the Games' expected 9,000 athletes will participate today through Sunday in 36 sports. The four-person staff of Virginia Amateur Sports - the Games organizer - will be assisted by sports coordinators and about 1,500 volunteers.
It's a huge event, and it's here to stay. VAS president Pete Lampman said the once-discussed proposal to move the games occasionally to Richmond or Hampton Roads no longer is an issue. So, what VAS must do now is make these Games truly a state event.
VAS also must build a presence in more than these Games. Lampman works closely with the Tour DuPont stage that cycles through the valley, but it's time VAS firmed up its foundation by bringing other sports shows to the region. It's something VAS has been promising since its inception in 1989.
Perhaps the best move VAS has made in its history is the hiring of Stuart Israel as director of development and marketing. Israel was very successful as executive director and fund-raiser for TRUST-Roanoke Valley, the local crisis intervention center. His impact at VAS won't be truly felt until after the 1995 Games, because he didn't move to VAS until February.
Israel's role is to sell VAS and the Commonwealth Games around the state, particularly in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, where mention of VAS and the Games often draw blank stares instead of entry blanks. It's not an easy job, because confusion about just what the Commonwealth Games are continues, thanks to the smaller Richmond-based event that owns the ``Virginia State Games'' moniker.
``I came here because I saw an organization with a lot of potential for growth,'' Israel said. ``I think we've just seen the tip of the iceberg of what this organization can be.''
Lampman described precisely what VAS must do.
``VAS is a state organization. It just happens to be based in Roanoke,'' he said. ``We have to sell the organization and the event as not just a Roanoke project.''
VAS is seeking a title sponsor for future Games, and when Israel called on firms in the past few months, some of them told him to ``come back in August'' after the '95 Games. He will. What's become more difficult for VAS is the Roanoke Valley's climb to respectability as a sports location, a situation VAS' creation boosted.
Since the first Games in 1990, the valley has added events such as the Tour DuPont and the Stagg Bowl and teams such as the Roanoke Express, RiverDawgs and Rush. Although Israel cites a Harper's magazine figure that shows 65 percent of U.S. corporate sponsorship dollars go to sports, compared with 6 percent for the arts, there are only so many of those bucks in the Roanoke Valley.
That's why VAS must become a name or at least an acronym outside the new 540 area code. The organization could accomplish some of that goal by staging regional competitions in some sports to feed into the state championships in Roanoke. That's a concept already used in many other state games across the nation.
Another question VAS must answer is whether bigger is necessarily better. The organization needs 9,000 athletes now because their entry fees replace some of the dollars VAS used to get elsewhere. There also is little spectator interest in the Games. Would more elite competition after regional qualifiers make the Games more attractive?
It promises to be another wonderful weekend for the Commonwealth Games and VAS. They just need now to play on their names during more of the other 51 weekends of the year.
by CNB