ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996                    TAG: 9605030037
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: B-5  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER

VAS, GAMES IN SYNC

ORGANIZERS SAY the Summer Games in Atlanta have fueled interest in the Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games is carrying the torch for the other Games scheduled for July.

Hoping to ride a wave of Olympic fever, Commonwealth Games organizers are expecting another record response when they begin taking registrations next week.

Virginia Amateur Sports, the group that organizes the Roanoke-based Commonwealth Games, is planning for nearly 10,000 athletes to participate in the seventh edition of the Games. Most of the events take place throughout the Roanoke Valley on July 12-14, one week before the Summer Olympics begin in Atlanta.

For VAS, the timing couldn't be better.

``I think [the Olympics] has heightened awareness of the [Commonwealth] Games,'' said Pete Lampman, the VAS president. ``People seem to be more excited this year. Having [the Olympics] in the United States, so close, is having a bigger impact, not just on our Games, but on all the states' Games.''

Lampman said VAS already is receiving numerous inquiries about the Games even though registration booklets will not be made available until May 9.

``People are calling for dates, hotel information, everything,'' Lampman said. ``It seems like, as soon as the weather started getting better, we began getting more calls. The calls are coming earlier this year than they have in the past.''

Olympic references are expected to pop up in VAS television commercials that will begin appearing state-wide in late May.

``We're trying to tell people, `Participate in the Commonwealth Games, Virginia's Olympics,''' Lampman said.

This year's Games will feature 44 sports, 36 of which will award championships during the main weekend of competition.

The Games added two sports this year (canoeing and field hockey) and dropped two (table tennis and mountain biking).

Judging from the early calls, basketball again will have the largest number of competitors in the Games, possibly eclipsing last year's field of 117 teams.

``We're getting so many calls about basketball, it's scary,'' said Stuart Israel, VAS' director of marketing. ``If it gets any bigger than last year, we might eventually have to go to regional [qualifying] tournaments.''

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