ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607110083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Summer nights don't get any more gorgeous than the last one. The telecast competition was no better than reruns. It was midweek at the Salem Fair.
At Cave Spring Stadium on Wednesday night, the public address announcer began another night of the best soccer these parts have seen by exclaiming, ``It's Showtime at the Dawg Pound.''
Actually, it's been more like no-show time at the home of the Roanoke RiverDawgs this season.
It's taken longer to say the name of the 'Dawgs' league - the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues - than it has to count the attendance.
Behind the junior high off Brambleton Avenue is a team still waiting to be discovered after almost two seasons. Soccer may be the so-called hot sport, but unless it's the kids who are kicking, it's gotten the cold shoulder here.
Before the season, RiverDawgs vice president Phil Benne said the club needed to average 1,500 paying customers per home date to break even. Despite a much-improved club on the field, Roanoke is averaging less than 600 spectators.
Only 448 appeared for Wednesday's date with the Carolina Dynamo, probably the USISL's best club. It seems a 'Dawggone shame that all of the soccer club's crowds have ranged between 781 and 358 this season.
``It's hard to believe,'' said Benne. ``It's difficult to figure out. The team has far exceeded our expectations.''
The RiverDawgs have three remaining home dates in the regular season, all in the next 10 days starting with Friday night's visit by the Washington Mustangs.
``We're hoping we can get some more people out,'' said Benne, also the club's director of player personnel. ``If not, we'll be right where we were [financially] last year.''
That would mean a $10,000 loss. However, Benne said there's no doubt the RiverDawgs plan to return for another summer in 1997.
As one of 34 clubs in the USISL's Premier - read, amateur - League, Roanoke has played with even the top-level Select and Pro League clubs, like the visiting Dynamo.
The RiverDawgs not only should make the playoffs, they have a shot at a division title. If Roanoke is home for the postseason, the club may seek to play at Victory Stadium, hoping to help its exposure in a larger venue.
After a 5-13 finish in their first summer, the 'Dawgs are 6-3 against Premier and Pro foes and 7-7 overall after Wednesday night's 2-0 loss to Carolina.
The quality of play is noticeably improved over a year ago, and if the support appears to have slipped, one reason is that the club isn't giving away free tickets in '96.
The fans who do appear enjoy themselves. In previous games when a 'Dawg has scored, a fan who catches a soccer ball kicked into the stands keeps a souvenir. The club has improved its corporate sales by 50 percent this season, too, and has increased its advertising budget.
More than 550 youths will go through the 'Dawgs' soccer camps this summer, and it's that success that buoys the franchise financially. In the stands, the RiverDawgs hoped that the arrival of Major League Soccer would push the game down the ladder, too. It hasn't happened.
A USISL spokesman said the average attendance at the Premier level is in the 1,000 range. The range is between Kalamazoo, Michigan's 2,200 down to only about 100 at Chattanooga, Tenn.
The USISL concept figures to get a boost today, when the Tampa-based league, home to 85 teams, announces a merger with the A-League, which has seven clubs and another three expansion teams scheduled to join next season.
The 10 A-League clubs and 14-17 USISL teams - including Carolina, Richmond and Hampton Roads - will join to form the USISL A League. Then, what is the USISL Pro League will be the B League and the RiverDawgs' home the C League.
Those leagues will play as farm clubs below Major League Soccer, similar to professional baseball's longtime setup. There will be a clearer definition of soccer's level in this country, which should help the USISL.
The merger, however, won't affect the RiverDawgs. Their problem isn't on the field. It's in - or not in - the seats.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB