THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240673
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Hampton Roads' professional soccer organization has chosen a name for its first-year women's team - the Hampton Roads Waves.
A contest was held and, `` `the Waves' was the most popular,'' said Karen Travis, public relations director for the Hampton Roads Mariners, the men's team that will begin its first professional season April 1.
The Waves schedule hasn't been set, but play is expected to begin in late May or early June.
Virginia Beach resident Ranier Hagemann was chosen as the contest winner because his was the first Waves entry. He will receive two season passes and club merchandise.
Hagemann - a Texas native raised in Berlin, Germany - played in the same league as last year's Hampton Roads team, the Hurricanes. Hagemann, 35, was a backup keeper for the Tulsa Roughnecks in the United State Interregional Soccer League - the amateur side of what is now called the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues.
``I was kind of living a childhood dream,'' Hagemann said. ``I tried out for the Hurricanes and didn't make it, so I went to play for Tulsa. I only played about 45 minutes, but at least I was there.''
Hagemann now plays keeper for Stihl in a local 30-and-over league.
``I just figured . . . Hampton Roads . . . Tides . . . Mariners. (Waves) was close to them. It all has to do with water,'' Hagemann said.
SEEKING PLAYERS: Now that the women's team has a name, it needs players. Coach John Daly - also the women's coach at William and Mary - said tryouts would be held the last two weeks of April and the first week in May, but sites and times haven't been determined.
Daly already has his eye on several players.
``We've got a nucleus of about eight to nine players,'' he said. ``But you can always get some surprises at tryouts.''
NO MARINERS TRYOUTS: With its new professional status, Mariners coach Sonny Travis didn't want any such surprises. So there will be no tryouts, as there were for the Hurricanes last season.
The Mariners will be playing in the professional side of the Atlantic Division of the USISL and have been looking since last season to upgrade their lineup.
``We have a nucleus also of players from last year's team that we feel can play at this level,'' general manager and assistant coach Shawn McDonald said. ``But now we're looking for impact players to round out the lineup. I've got a list of about 140 people we've looked at and we're currently in negotiations with some of them.''
Luckily for McDonald, soccer hasn't reached the level of other professional sports in terms of finances.
``There aren't any salary caps in this league, but sometimes I wish that there were,'' McDonald said. ``Some of these players were expecting to play in the new Major League Soccer league that was put on hold, and they've hired lawyers and agents to handle their contracts.
``Some of them are asking for this and that in their contracts - things the other players probably wouldn't think of asking for.''
STADIUM IN FUTURE? The Mariners will play their home games at the Center for Effective Learning stadium on Witchduck Road in Virginia Beach, but owners Mark Garcea and Page Johnson envision a future stadium with seating for about 10,000.
``We're currently talking with Norfolk and Virginia Beach about building such a stadium and both have shown interest,'' Johnson said, adding that the two would seek an MLS franchise in the future. ``If were were to get a team in the future, we'd need a stadium like that, and getting such a team is in our five-year plan.'' by CNB