THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 12, 1995 TAG: 9511090166
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
IS THAT SO?
Bobby Owens lives in Nags Head. How do we know? Bobby tells us it is so.
Bobby's wife, Sarah, lives in Manteo. How do we know? Sarah tells us it is so.
Both Bobby and Sarah share the same 473 phone number. How do we know? The ``Beach Book'' tells us it is so.
What does all this really prove? I don't know - other than to confirm an old adage that says: ``Politics makes estranged bedfellows.''
William L. Hauschild
Colington Harbour
TEAM PARENTS RUDE
This past weekend I had the pleasure of watching my son and his team compete in the 10- to 12-year-old Countywide Soccer Tournament. They displayed the best teamwork that I have observed in these kids all season.
However, the parents of the opposing beach teams displayed such nasty attitudes and rudeness, I was ashamed to think they could be a part of our fair county.
One of the parents said that the Roanoke Island/mainland teams were ``hand-picked'' while the beach and Hatteras teams used a true lottery. If that is so, why were the Roanoke Island/mainland teams so evenly suited, with only a couple of wins separating the best record from the worst, and the beach teams separated by as many as eight wins? Looks to me like at least one team was stacked, and it wasn't on the Roanoke Island/mainland division.
Less than one week before the Countywide Tournament, I was made aware that due to the request of some of the beach parents, the Roanoke Island/mainland teams would not be allowed to participate. Just for the information of those concerned parents, we on Roanoke Island and the mainland pay taxes to the same county government and paid the same fees for our children to participate in the Recreation Department's soccer league. Therefore, it is our contention that our children were as eligible to participate in this tournament as was any Dare County soccer team - be it Hatteras, beach or Roanoke Island/mainland.
There are two sets of bleachers on the field for the comfort and convenience of the spectators not wishing to or able to stand on the sidelines. When some beach parents were asked by a grandmother of one of the Roanoke Island/mainland players to please not stand in front of the bleachers because it was blocking her view, another parent commented, ``Don't listen to her, she's been saying that all day!''
It is also appalling that these same parents have instilled in their children the same level of poor sportsmanship. That was very evident by the remarks of the kids on the sideline directed at the opposing players.
The above incidents coupled with groups like ``Beach Parents for Education'' are doing nothing good for our county. It only serves as a means for division and building barriers between the people who settled this county and the people who moved here for a better way of living.
My husband was born and raised in Kitty Hawk, and I in Manteo. There has always been some healthy competition between the school teams, but never anything as radical as it is now.
We all want the best education for our children, and we all want our children to experience all good things available to them. Let's all remember that teamwork should not be lost on the children. If we as parents and citizens practice some teamwork, maybe the divisions in the county we choose to live in will be erased and we can all grow and prosper together.
Congratulations to the Crushers, Dare County's championship team in the 10-12 League. Also, congratulations to the Invaders, Dare County's runners-up, for a hard fought game.
Ruby Thompson
Manteo by CNB