Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280004
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Lowering their programs from one classification to another is like a drop in status. Never mind that winning a Group AA championship is equal in feeling and excitement to capturing one in Group AAA.
Over the years, Timesland schools that have dropped have fought the move. Once the decision was made to make the drop, though, schools found that life wasn't that bad in a lower league.
During the last decade, Salem, Northside, Radford, Narrows and Giles have taken the plunge.
Salem, Northside and Narrows were the first to make the decision. Salem and Northside left the Group AAA Roanoke Valley District after the 1987 season to join the Group AA Blue Ridge District.
Narrows went from the Group AA New River District to the Group A Mountain Empire District, splitting from long-time county rival Giles. The Spartans remained in the New River District for two more years and then joined the Green Wave in the Mountain Empire before moving to the new Three Rivers District in 1994.
Radford was the last to move and the Bobcats' decision was the most disputed. It split the community and set long-time athletic director and football coach Norm Lineburg, who favored downsizing, against members of the Radford school board, who acted as if changing from the New River District Group A was tantamount to going from the penthouse to the outhouse.
Finally, the Bobcats, on about the third or fourth try, were given permission to leave the New River District after the 1994 school year and join the Three Rivers District for 1994-95.
In the last month, the Radford school board has relented on a petty decision it made in conjunction with the move. When the board reluctantly approved dropping to Group A, it said Radford no longer could play higher classification schools in football. That meant an end to series against long-time rivals Blacksburg and Christiansburg and a beginning of long trips to Powell Valley in order for the Bobcats to fill out their schedule.
Here's a look at how each of school has done since dropping:
SALEM: Only two years before Salem made the decision to drop down in classification, the Spartans had played for the Group AAA football title, losing 14-0 in a very competitive game at perennial power Hampton. This was before the VHSL established classifications and added three more state titles to water down the process of being the best in Virginia.
Fans were not that happy Salem was dropping, but mostly it came from those who followed football, long regarded as the big sport of the town.
``I was opposed initially,'' said Spartan football coach Willis White, who had come to the school in 1983 to rebuild a sagging program. ``I don't think it's helped us in football. We're no more competitive on a state level. It might have added a few victories, but in the eyes of the community, it has hurt us.''
The move didn't sneak up on Salem. ``It was a decision we had been talking about for a couple of years. We knew we were coming into a period when enrollment would continue to come down. We talked to the major players - all the coaches, not just the football coaches; our school administration; our school board and the people in the city,'' said John Hall, the principal at Salem then and now.
``The reaction, with a couple of exceptions, was uniformly it was just what we ought to do. We heard very little second guessing.''
White is open to change. He fits in, which is one of the reasons he has been successful on any level where he's coached.
``To start with, I thought because the community had a negative attitude about it, this affected the way some of the kids played earlier. Not now. I think we've accepted it and it's fine. I'm happy with where we are. I said at the time I wouldn't have made the move, but it was probably a good move for everything in the school,'' said White.
Consider that since the move, Salem has won a boys' state basketball title, a couple of boys' state tennis championships and a state softball crown. The football team has made the Group AA finals and the semifinals several times.
NORTHSIDE: Dr. Jim Gallion, the assistant superintendent of Roanoke County schools, was the principal when Northside decided to drop. The Vikings had competed in the Roanoke Valley District, sending boys' and girls' basketball teams to the Group AAA tournament on occasion and winning a football title.
``There was a lot of soul searching because the numbers [enrollment] had changed so drastically. It was very difficult in basketball, track and some of those sports to compete in triple A. Football had some concerns looking at the numbers of athletes,'' Gallion recalls.
``You'd take your first teams and they'd stack up very well with triple A teams. But particularly in football, if you had injuries, you didn't have quality people to replace them.''
Like Salem, Northside officials talked with supporters in the booster club and people in the community. ``I think initially there was some opposition, but Salem was dropping, and that helped,'' said Gallion.
The Vikings haven't won state titles in Group AA competition. In football, Salem has dominated the Blue Ridge District, winning the title five of the past six years while Northside usually has had a winning season.
Billy Pope, the basketball coach at the time of the decision, has taken his team to two Group AA championship games and a semifinal contest. Northside has been the Blue Ridge District's dominating boys' basketball squad.
``I think that's why they have classifications,'' said Pope. ``I feel we got into a good district with a lot of good schools close by. I remember some of the fans opposed the move, but after they saw the natural rivals we had, I don't remember any of them voicing any opposition.''
GILES: Giles won a Group AA football championship in 1980 and then won a Group A Division 2 crown in 1993 - both under Coach Steve Ragsdale. Currently, Giles is unbeaten and perhaps rolling to yet another state title. Did the move help?
``I don't know if help is the correct word. It was the right move for us,'' said Ragsdale. ``We've gone through some real good players the last three or four years. Like everyone else, it goes in cycles.''
Football wise, the Spartans have had the best of both worlds. They continue to play old New River District rivals Blacksburg and Christiansburg, who move to the Blue Ridge next year. Part of that comes from Giles' fanatical following that translates into dollars at the gate for the Demons and Indians every other year at home.
Giles' athletic director Rusty Kelley, who coaches girls' track and also has headed up girls' basketball, sees the move as a big plus.
``When we made it to the playoffs, we've gone up against teams our own size instead of those over our head. I don't think the move was controversial. We were at a little bit of down cycle in boys' sports and an up cycle in girls. We dominated our first year in Group A in girls, but our boys sports were just another team,'' said Kelley.
He added that during the past few years, Giles teams were strong in non-revenue sports because the school was one of the larger ones in the Mountain Empire District.
``In baseball, football and basketball, it took us a couple of years. The move hurt us early because we weren't drawing as good a crowds. Now we are supported by gate receipts in football that have been up the last few years,'' Kelley continued.
Enrollment has continued to drop at Giles, but the Spartans have been very competitive. The girls' track team was second in the state last spring.
NARROWS: Narrows' move might have caused the least commotion and perhaps that was because the Green Wave, a proud state competitor in football in the 1960s had just lost too many students to continue the tradition.
``Prior to my coming here, our enrollment was at single A level for years, maybe as many as 15,'' said athletic director Rick Franklin. ''Our last year in the New River, football was 1-9 and the first year in the Mountain Empire, we were 7-3. We've been competitive ever since.''
Like other schools making the drop, Narrows' non-revenue sports picked up. ``Football will come and go,'' said Franklin. ``We've had tennis and baseball district championships. The drop has highlighted some of our other programs and kept kids interested.''
RADFORD: Wounds over Radford's move won't heal for a long time to come. Maturity has been a four-letter word on the part of some adults in making the decision about dropping.
Buddy Martin, the boys' basketball coach at Radford and now the school principal, was vocal in his opposition toward a drop whenever it was considered.
Today, Martin still won't endorse the move. ``I have no problems with it, so therefore I have no opinion on it. I don't see a lot of difference around the school. Our gate receipts are down, but it might be a sign of the times,'' he says.
It also might be a sign of giving up football games against Christiansburg and Blacksburg. Now Radford has the OK to play those schools, but Blacksburg isn't going to hurry over to do the Bobcats' bidding.
``In my opinion, the move has been very beneficial for our teams because we're competing with comparable teams with comparable enrollments. To me, that's the purpose of classification,'' said Lineburg.
``I feel like we really have enjoyed the people we've competed against and I feel we've been fully accepted. We've accepted them. The fans have been supportive and and accepted it very well.''
Brenda King, the girls' basketball coach, initially joined Martin in opposing the move. After all, Radford was a state power in girls' basketball, but the material ran out.
``I think it's been the right move,'' said King, whose basketball team is now competitive once again after a couple of losing seasons.
``There's been enthusiasm, especially on the bus rides home. After we won games in the Carroll County invitational, the kids were making up new cheers. I asked them to sing the fight song, and we didn't even know the words.
``Their assignment was to go ask their parents the words. The next night we won and we were singing the school fight song the whole way home. I turned to [assistant] coach Wayne Pridgen and said, `Isn't it good to hear the enthusiasm back again?'''
Memo: Also ran in September 28, 1995 Neighbors.