ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030010
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
MEMO: NOTE: Also ran in October 3, 1996 Neighbors.
The year I became the high school sports coordinator for fall sports, the New River District was an eight-team league.
That was in the fall of 1983. Now it no longer exists.
While it officially ended with three teams that were taken in by other districts, the New River was a victim of schools dropping from Group AA to the Group A ranks. It started before I became responsible for getting high school games covered for this paper.
After 1983, Galax, George Wythe, Giles, Narrows and Radford all dropped to Group A over the next 11 years. Radford was the final team to leave the New River two seasons ago.
The Group AAA Roanoke Valley District also lost teams, with Salem and Northside defecting to the Group AA Blue Ridge District.
In all cases, there was apprehension by the schools' fans that dropping to a lower league would lead to doom. At the other end, the leagues that received the new guests thought they would be dominated by teams that came from playing against bigger schools.
After all this time, both assumptions have proved incorrect. Dropping down to play with the smaller schools hasn't made these teams state powerhouses.
Everyone thought Salem would dominate Group AA football. While the Spartans have done very well, the state championships came in boys basketball, softball and boys tennis rather than football. Surprise, surprise.
Northside didn't dominate the Blue Ridge in football. In boys basketball, though, the Vikings have made the Group AA semifinals four of the past five years.
Billy Pope had been the boys basketball coach for two years when Northside dropped. ``We were just getting things started when we dropped. I feel if you're a triple A [sized] school, you should play triple A,'' said Pope. ``If you're double A, then you should play double A.
``Though you move [down], it doesn't necessarily mean success. We're not triple A size, but we've done well against triple A schools.''
Giles won a Group A football title, but the Spartans had also won a Group AA crown in 1980.
Galax's first year in Group A football (1984) saw the Maroon Tide go 10-2, losing in the Region C finals to Covington, a team that made the downward move in the 1970s. However, Galax's domination in football didn't last, and the Maroon Tide won last week for the first time this season.
George Wythe played in the 1983 Group AA championship game, but the Maroons' football program has never gone that far in Group A. The boys basketball is strong at Wythe, but not as strong as some of the school's Group AA teams that used to lose to perennial power Martinsville.
Wythe's girls have won Group A titles in volleyball and track under veteran coach Lillie Moore, who was there when the Maroons were part of the New River.
``I think in certain years you can hold your own with just anybody with a good group of athletes. But numbers would be against you most years in smaller schools. Overall, you're going to pay a price down the road [if you don't drop],'' said Moore.
Asked if her championship teams would have done that well on a Group AA level, Moore responded, ``It depends on the sport. Track, depth is definitely in favor of the team with the numbers. It's the same in football. In volleyball and basketball, you have less numbers to put out there.''
Wythe also won a Group AA girls state basketball title, but in Group A has made it to the finals without repeating as state champion.
Narrows won only one game in its final two years of New River District football competition. So in 1988, the Green Wave plunged into the Mountain Empire District, leaving county rival Giles in the New River.
In the first year of Group A competition, the Green Wave went 7-4, making the playoffs. Its football program has been competitive, though it's never been a state power because of the drop.
There are other factors, according to athletic director Rick Franklin: ``In Group A, we've won some district tennis championships. We had never done that before.
``In football, we won our first region title [in modern times]. The boys won the district basketball tournament for the first time in 30 years. People are satisfied.''
Franklin says that in Group AA, athletes tend to specialize in a sport, whereas they play three sports in Group A.
``You can follow boys or girls through from fall to spring. They all use the same kids,'' Franklin said. ``We've won district girls track titles, so we've had success in both boys and girls sports. In the New River, there were so many sports we were beaten every time we went on the field.''
The verdict isn't in for Radford. Suffice to say, though, the Bobcats' wrestling program competes at the state level now. Would that have happened in Group AA ranks? No way, because the Bobcats were in Region IV with perennial state champion Grundy. Enough said.
A LOT OF ROOKIES: There was a rarity at the Salem-William Byrd girls basketball game last week.
These two teams, which had each lost one nondistrict game, were matched against one another for the first time. Byrd dressed nine players and Salem, because of injuries, had only eight players dressed. The rarity was that of the 17 players, there wasn't a senior on the floor.
When's the last time you've seen one varsity basketball team for a school without a single senior, much less two teams? I've never seen it happen.
What does that say about these two programs next year? If you're not scheduled to play them, next year would not be a good time to put these schools on the schedule.
SPARTAN EFFORT: Giles has one of the state's finest Group A football programs, but some school personnel think the bleachers in the stadium are in poor condition.
With school funds, which are always tight, unavailable for immediate improvement, football coach Steve Ragsdale and other Spartan fans are in the process of raising as much as $90,000, in order to purchase new bleacher seats for the stadium.
Any person making a contribution of $5 or more at a football game will receive a ``Spartan Fan'' ribbon.
Contributions will be listed by donors, with different levels. The levels to be recognized start with $20-49 (Spartan) and go up to $2,500 and more (Hall of Fame Spartan). Other levels are $50-99 (Spartan Fanatic), $100-249 (All-District Spartan), $250-499 (All-Region Spartan), $500-999 (All-State Spartan) and $1,000-2,499 (All-American Spartan).
Donations may be made to the Spartan Bleacher Fund and mailed to either Ragsdale at 709 S. High St., Pearisburg, Va. 24134 or Mark Hubbard, Treasurer, at 503 N. Giles St., Pearisburg, Va. 24134.
LENGTH: Long : 118 linesby CNB