ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020003
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
The beauty of international competition always has been that it brings together athletes from different sides of the political sphere to test their skills in a friendly matter. There are no treaties, embassies or summits - only victory and defeat.
When former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev spoke of glasnost and a new age in relations with the West back in the 1980s, he presented a chance for Soviets to discover the free-enterprise system.
Thanks to organizations such as Pangaea Inc., a team of Russian high school soccer stars is getting that chance today. Pangaea (the geological name for Earth's theoretical lone landmass thought to have split apart 250 million years ago) is a nonprofit organization that develops cultural-athletic exchanges between American and Russian students.
Last month, the Pereslavl Zalessky soccer team toured the Roanoke and New River Valleys, taking in the sites and playing in a series of exhibition matches against Christiansburg, North Cross, Radford and Salem High School. Pangaea's Barbara Salkin said it is the organization's hope that the Russian team will learn about American society, as well as educate area players about life in Russia.
"We have a partnership with the Russian Ministry of Education and we have done student exchange programs in many sports for a number of years now," Salkin said. "One of the really great things about the program is that the exchange players stay with host families, so they get to learn more about one another's life styles."
According to Radford coach Mike Greco, the experience has taught his team a thing or two about life in America, as seen through the eyes of their guests.
"I think we are learning just how good we have it here in the United States," Greco said. "The Russian kids are in awe that we have things like more than one car. They were amazed that a teacher would own a house. Our kids have learned that we take certain things for granted here that the Russian kids have never seen."
The Radford Bobcats also learned a lesson in European-style soccer, as Pereslavl Zalessky defeated the Group A powerhouse, 5-4. The Russian team, which hails from an area about an hour north of Moscow, frustrated Radford with a more physical brand of soccer than is played in the Virginia High School League.
"This match is going to really help our team in the long run," Greco said. "We'll run into some teams that play physical, but nothing like what the Russians played. They are a great team and we're just proud to get a chance to play against them. We made a little history tonight - we're the first team from Radford to ever play a team from another country, so that's another honor for us."
Pereslavl Zalessky, which dropped its first game in the tour, 3-1, to North Cross, found the American style of play interesting and its rules a bit confusing.
"Today's game with Radford was very good and after the last match [with North Cross] we have a better understanding of the rules," Pereslavl Zalessky coach Vladimir Vlassev said. "There are very different rules here. In Russia, we use the international rules, but here there are differences."
When asked about his team's impressions of America, Vlassev responded with a smile.
"Everything here is great," Vlassev said. "The American people have been wonderful. There are some difficulties with the language between the kids and the families, but everything has been great."
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. 1. Russian soccer players (above)by CNBcelebrate after making a goal against the Christiansburg High Blue
Demons. 2. Christiansburg's Eli Bergsten (in yellow shirt at right)
beats his opponent to the ball during the match against the Russian
team. The Russian team won the game 3-2. color.