DATE: Sunday, June 22, 1997                 TAG: 9706220230

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   63 lines

NORCOM'S NUMBERS SUGGEST THE SCHOOL COULD BE VULNERABLE IT FIELDED 5 FEMALE TEAMS LAST YEAR, 3 FEWER THAN ANY OTHER AREA SCHOOL.

If Title IX compliance ever becomes the hot-button issue among high schools the way it has with colleges, will Norcom feel the most heat?

Or does the general apathy toward sports among girls at the school and first-year principal Walter Taylor's vow to be the ``participation principal'' adequately address Norcom's status as the school with the fewest female athletes in South Hampton Roads?

Although the school has never received an official Title IX complaint, the numbers suggest Norcom could be particularly vulnerable if challenged to comply with the federal law that bars discrimination in educational institutions. The school fielded female teams in just five sports last year, half as many as Virginia Beach's Cox and three fewer than any other area school. And only 24 percent of the school's girls represent Norcom on the athletic fields, another area low.

``It's a concern,'' Taylor said. ``I don't know if vulnerable is the word, but if it's equality they're looking at, yes, I'd say we're concerned.''

Taylor had hoped to improve these numbers by introducing girls soccer next season, in addition to starting boys soccer.

``One of my goals here is to try and get as many people participating in things as possible,'' he said.

But Norcom's numbers could wind up being even more skewed. The boys soccer team seems like a go, but interest among girls was so low school officials acknowledge the possibility the school won't field a girls team. The Eastern District even assumes as much, as it has circulated an advanced girls soccer schedule that does not include the Greyhounds.

Title IX isn't just about proportionality; a history of promoting sports for girls can also constitute Title IX compliance. But Norcom's number of girls sports is actually down one from a year ago. The school had to drop indoor track, one of its most successful and popular sports, when the Portsmouth schools moved into the Eastern District last fall. The formerly all-Norfolk public schools district doesn't compete in indoor track.

The strongest explanation for Norcom's low number of girl athletes may come from the students themselves. Many express little interest in competing for teams that have lacked success recently. The tennis team, for example, hasn't won a match in two years. The softball team hasn't won in four years.

``Track, basketball and cheerleading, that's about all most of the girls care about here,'' senior Dana Woodis said.

According to Jimmie Williford, specialist for health, physical education and athletics for Portsmouth schools, this attitude, along with the apparently failed experiment with starting girls soccer, points out the difficulties Norcom faces in boosting its athletic count among girls.

``We can offer things, but if we don't have anybody that wants to play, what good does it do?'' Williford said.

Williford said the proposed introduction of middle school sports next fall could signal a reversal of the trend. If funding is approved, the city''s middle school boys and girls will compete in volleyball, soccer and basketball.

``At least we can start off on that level equally,'' he said. ``If we promote in middle schools, the high school numbers should grow.''

Until then, Taylor said he's prepared to act quickly if confronted with a Title IX complaint.

The question is, who's complaining?

``Most of the girls in this school aren't very active anyway,'' senior Latisha Lemon said. ``I don't think there's really a problem.''

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