ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Seventh-grader Stuart Brown, a 155-pound offensive guard and defensive tackle in Roanoke's sandlot football leagues, was ready to sign up Wednesday for middle school football.
"I think it's great," he said of the School Board's decision to give middle school football a try. "It'll be a chance to keep playing football and to represent our school," said Brown, 13, a student at Addison Middle School.
Anthony Blaney, an Addison eighth-grader, said the middle schools won't have any trouble finding enough players to field two teams of seventh-and eighth-graders next fall.
"All of the boys want to play," Blaney said. "I would have played this year if there had been a team."
On the day after the School Board gave preliminary approval to the pilot program, the Addison boys were elated by the prospect of being on a football team this fall.
Many seventh-and eighth-graders said they played sandlot football for several years, but they are too old and large now for sandlot competition. They said the proposed middle school teams will bridge the gap between sandlot and high school competition.
Some Addison girls seemed as enthusiastic as the boys about the football proposal. They're hoping the teams will have cheerleaders and step teams.
"The girls at some middle schools get to cheer, but we don't have any squad," said Dominique Finney, a seventh-grader.
Superintendent Wayne Harris' plan calls for the city to have two teams for seventh-and eighth-graders that would be part of the Patrick Henry and William Fleming high school athletic programs.
Players would be bused from the middle schools to the high schools, where the teams would practice.
Students from all five middle schools could participate. They would play for the team at the high school they will attend in ninth grade.
Jeff Artis, who helped organize a petition drive to get middle school football teams, said Harris' proposal is "pretty good overall" and "about the best we could expect under the circumstances."
Artis and several others had urged school officials to upgrade the middle school athletic program. They say a full-scale sports program would reduce the dropout rate, help keep students off drugs and reduce teen pregnancy.
In addition to proposing the pilot football program, Harris has recommended several other actions, including declaring team champions in all middle school sports.
Harris stopped short of recommending two levels of competition in middle school sports - one for novices and the other for students with more athletic skill - as Artis requested.
"I'd like to have seen him make middle school sports more competitive, but he did recommend some changes, such as having champions in each sport," Artis said.
Trish Boyd, president of the Parent-Teacher Association at Ruffner Middle School, predicts strong support from parents.
"This will help motivate many students, keep them interested in school and give them something to look forward to when they reach high school," Boyd said. "A lot of parents were really hoping they would do this."
The School Board authorized Harris to survey parents before a final vote on the proposal.
The board also gave him permission to ask city officials to provide the money to pay the estimated $40,000 cost for the first year.
Artis said, "I have some concerns if [school officials] are going to make this depend solely on parents' support." He explained that it is sometimes difficult to get parents to become involved in school activities.
Artis said he also is worried that some board members might use the deficits in the athletic funds at Patrick Henry and William Fleming as an excuse to nix the plan.
Board Vice Chairman John Saunders said middle school football shouldn't be approved until school officials have developed a plan for preventing a recurrence of the $130,000 deficit in the high schools' athletic funds. Chairwoman Marsha Ellison said she shared Saunders' concerns.
Harris assured Saunders that he will have such a plan by this spring before the middle school football program would begin.
Artis said the deficits at Roanoke's high schools are not unusual because athletic programs at most high schools and colleges lose money.
Middle school football will help "save kids" and prevent some from getting into trouble, Artis said. It is cheaper than paying the cost for housing youngsters in juvenile detention centers and jails, he said.
Board member Charles Day, a retired school principal and coach, said middle school football is needed in the city.
"We have a lot of children who need this opportunity. It means a lot to the kids to have football. Let's put the kids first," said Day, who worked in city schools for three decades.
Board member Melinda Payne said football has traditionally had more appeal than soccer for black youngsters. "Football is the sport that many people of color have been involved with, and it has helped some get into college."
Calvin Bannister, a seventh-grader at Addison, said he hasn't followed the debate over football. Bannister, a running back who has played sandlot ball for seven years, said he just wants the opportunity to be on the football field and run for touchdowns this fall.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 linesby CNB