ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
Two girls basketball teams will get financial help from Pulaski County to represent the area in national AAU tournaments.
The Lady Cougar 11-and-under team won the state championship in Charlottesville last month and is in the process of raising $24,000 to represent Pulaski County in the national championship tournament in Ogden, Utah, from June 28 to July 6.
Co-coach Don Bowman said team members and parents had raised about $11,000 toward the 4,640-mile trip, mainly through fund-raising activities such as car washes and bake sales. He requested $2,400 from the supervisors.
Ron Burnette, the parent of a member of the Lady Cougars 12-and-under team, added that team's request for $1,300 toward its goal of $13,000 to fund a trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, to compete nationally. "We were one of three teams in the state of Virginia to qualify for the nationals," he said.
The 12-and-under group has raised about $2,000.
Supervisor Bruce Fariss moved that both requests be granted, although he acknowledged that the board might be setting a precedent for such teams to come back in future years for funding if they win the right to compete nationally.
"We hope so," a parent said.
Still, Fariss said, both teams are representing the county and doing it well. He said they deserve county support, and the rest of the supervisors agreed.
"The Lady Cougar 11-and-unders are the first-ever Virginia state girls' basketball champions from Pulaski County, and they have been great ambassadors for the county," Bowman said.
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