THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610040236
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: 114 lines
``C ome on Matt, do it, we know you can do it . . . come on!''
``Come on Ryan sink it, we know you can sink it . . . come on!''
Ah, the age-old tradition of cheerleaders pumping up the players and urging on the fans at a packed gym during a basketball game.
Nope.
Football game?
Nope. Not this time.
``Rah, rah, tough - keep it out of the rough.''
``Rah, rah, mean - put it on the green.''
``Rah, rah, win - hit it at the pin.''
Wait a minute, that's golf jargon. Cheerleaders on the golf course, cheering on the golf team?
Why, it's just not proper. Golf etiquette won't stand for a bunch of loud noise. Too distracting. That just won't do.
Well, where the Cox High golf team is concerned, it does just fine, thank you.
At Cox, the cheering squad takes its job quite seriously and tries to attend as many school sporting events as possible - often breaking the team up into smaller ``mini'' squads to lend its support.
Of course, with golf there are no loud cheers or dance routines done to music, no high-flying acrobatics and stunts.
But there they are: two, three, four and sometimes more, cheerleaders walking the course and applauding at the appropriate times.
``When I took over 10 years ago, I read the directive to say that the cheerleaders were a support unit for athletics,'' cheering coach Kim Hux said. ``So I read that to mean we were to include all sports.''
When Stuart Holland took over the golf position seven years ago, Hux approached him and asked if he'd like the cheering squad's support.
``I felt like it would be a good thing to have them here for spirit,'' Holland said. ``It's been a good thing over the years.''
Not all would agree with Holland - especially some other coaches.
``They are an attractive nuisance,'' Princess Anne coach Joe Cox said. ``I don't think cheerleaders should be on the golf course.''
Several other coaches, who asked not to be identified, agreed with Cox.
But Holland thinks it's all a bunch of bunk.
``If they're a distraction, it hasn't bothered us,'' said Holland, whose teams have finished second in the state four times in the past five years and have won seven Beach tournament and five Eastern Region titles in a row.
``If it bothers some of the other coaches, it sure doesn't seem to bother their players. The guys from other teams are always asking me if the cheerleaders are coming out.''
Kellam coach Steve Schmitter didn't seem concerned when his Knights were playing Cox last Tuesday. In fact, Kellam cheerleaders come out to the course to help post scores.
``They support the team,'' Holland said. ``It's not like they're out here cheering like they would at a basketball game or something. They walk along with the team and give them encouragement.''
The Falcons cheerleaders - usually three or four of them - don't show up at the course until around 4 o'clock in the afternoon and wait for their team to make the turn to the back nine.
As the players come off the ninth green and head to the 10th tee, the cheerleaders hand out goodie bags filled with a soda, cookies, candy bars and chewing gum.
Then they walk the back nine with the players, usually breaking up so that one cheerleader is with each group.
``They bring us drinks and stuff and I love that,'' said Falcon Dave Krop. ``I can see where it might be distracting, though. It takes a focused player to put it out of his mind, but that's what they should be doing anyway.
``It doesn't bother me too much.''
And sometimes romance even blooms.
Although he'll know now, Krop wasn't aware Tuesday that junior cheerleader Andrea Rowe has had a crush on him since the beginning of the season.
``He has no idea,'' she said. ``But Ryan (Roebuck) told me that he likes chocolate chip cookies. So I put some homemade ones in his bag for him today.''
Smart young lady. You know what they say about the quickest way to a man's heart.
While Rowe is hoping something comes of her announcement, Roebuck and sophomore cheerleader Shelley Brown have been an item for quite some time.
``I just try to encourage him like I do everybody else,'' Brown said. ``He has a temper and likes to throw his clubs, so I try to stop him from doing that.''
``He's not doing too good right now,'' she said on the 11th hole.
Her kind words must have helped. Roebuck ended up tying for medalist honors with teammate Ryan Garland on Tuesday.
Rowe and junior Tara Powell are aware that their presence isn't always appreciated by all on the golf course.
``The players don't seem to mind,'' Powell said. ``But some of the coaches have made some comments. We know they don't like us out here.
``They've said some things. I guess they don't think we hear them, but we do.''
And it's not unusual for the cheerleaders to develop an interest in the game they follow.
The entire squad worked part-time over the summer at Nevada Bob's to earn money for a trip to New Orleans, where they will cheer in the halftime show of the Sugar Bowl.
``I like golf,'' Powell said. ``My dad plays a lot, so I kind of know what's going on, too.''
And Brown is hoping to someday learn how to play.
``(Ryan) hasn't taken me to the driving range yet, but I'm hoping he will,'' she said. ``It's a neat game.''
And at Cox, having cheerleaders support the golf team is a pretty neat thing, too. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LEE TOLLIVER
Cox High School golfer John Dunn tees off while cheerleaders Tara
Powell, left, and Andrea Rowe lend moral support.
Photo by LEE TOLLIVER
Cox High School golfer John Dunn tees off while cheerleaders Tara
Powell, left, and Andrea Rowe walk along and lend support. by CNB