ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608090137
SECTION: DISCOVER ROANOKE VALLEY PAGE: 84 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
People in the Roanoke Valley who like watching live sports can keep themselves busy all year. They also can keep their wallets intact.
A wide variety of professional and amateur sports either visit or call the valley home, and no ticket is more than $11. The vast majority are half that.
The most expensive ticket ($11) is the best seat at a Roanoke Express hockey game. The Express completed its third season in the East Coast Hockey League this spring, setting a franchise record for home victories (24). The Express has never had a losing season and averaged 5,679 fans for 34 regular-season home dates at the 8,372-seat Roanoke Civic Center.
Adult tickets range from $6 to $11. Tickets for students and senior citizens are $5, and children 12 and under are $4.
Salem's mountain-encircled landscape provides a fitting backdrop for its minor-league baseball team, the Colorado Rockies' class A-advanced affiliate, the Salem Avalanche.
The Avalanche is spending its first full season in the new, $10 million Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. The facility attracted attention nationwide in 1996 when a hot tub was added to its long list of amenities.
The Avalanche plays a 70-game home schedule in the Southern Division of the Carolina League from April through September. The league includes eight teams from North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
Most home games at the 6,400 seat stadium start at 7 p.m. Ticket prices are $6 (box); $5 (reserved); $3 (general admission); $1 off for children 12 and younger and for senior citizens.
Other team sports include the Roanoke RiverDawgs soccer team (call 776-7977 for more information) and the Roanoke Rush football team (1-800-978-7874). The RiverDawgs play their home games at Cave Spring Junior High School and the Rush at Victory Stadium.
The other professional sport in the valley is cycling. America's premier cycling event, the Tour DuPont, has rolled through the Roanoke and New River valleys for the past three years and is expected to return in 1997. Roanoke and Blacksburg played hosts to finishers of this year's tour, while Salem and Wytheville were start sites.
The city of Salem has earned a reputation as the capital of NCAA Division III sports championships, with four decided in the past year. The title game for Division III football, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, has sold out in two of its three appearances at Salem Stadium (cap. 7,300) despite frigid, wet conditions. The Stagg Bowl matches the finalists of a 16-team national tournament and is scheduled to be televised on ESPN this year (noon, Dec. 14). Tickets are available through the Salem Civic Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations.
The winter months at the 5,800-seat Salem Civic Center are dominated by basketball, beginning with the Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament, held there for 16 years. The next men's tournament will take place Feb. 22-24, 1997 and the women's event Feb.27-March1.
Later in March, the top four men's basketball teams in Division III will come to the civic center for the national championship finals. Like the Stagg Bowl, the basketball final four also will remain in the area through 1998.
Come May, the Division II and Division III softball championships come to Salem's Moyer Sports Complex on an alternating yearly basis. A week later, the Division III baseball world series is played out at the Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The Moyer Complex also hosts several national softball tournaments in the summer, including the USSSA (United States Slowpitch Softball Association) men's Major World Series Qualifier and the National Softball Association (NSA) men's Fastpitch World Series.
Summertime means there's going to be a lot of horsing around at the Salem Civic Center complex. The Roanoke Valley Horse Show, the largest multibreed show in the state, is held in June and attracts the country's top horses and riders. The weeklong event climaxes with the $50,000 Grand Prix of Roanoke jumper competition.
The next big summer event is the Commonwealth Games of Virginia, which attracted 9,000 amateur athletes to Roanoke this year. The games, sponsored by Roanoke-based Virginia Amateur Sports, is in its seventh year and features 44 different sporting events, from archery to track and field.
If you prefer tire tracks, the Roanoke area is a place to be for auto racing. Franklin County Speedway in Callaway holds races on Saturdays from April through September in Late Model, Street Stock, Mini Stock, Pure Stock, Rookie and Any Car divisions. New River Valley Speedway in Radford also features Saturday NASCAR-sanctioned raced in Late Model Stock, Limited Sportsman, Modified Mini Stock and Pure Stock divisions.
Besides a full schedule of high school athletics (including the Virginia High School League Group A and AA wrestling championships on Feb. 14-15, 1997), there are many colleges in the area that offer a variety of sports.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 linesby CNB