DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710020733

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   77 lines

MAYORS ACT LIKE TEAM, SNAG JUNIOR OLYMICS COOPERATION TO GIVE THE REGION A CHANCE TO SHOW OFF AS HOSTS.

Hampton Roads may not always cooperate when it comes to water, light rail or major league hockey, but apparently acts like a tight-knit family when it comes to amateur sports.

Bobby Dodd Jr., executive director of the Amateur Athletic Union, profusely praised the region's seven largest cities Wednesday when he announced the 1998 AAU Junior Olympics will be held in Hampton Roads.

``I've never been outnumbered like this by mayors,'' he said as five majors and representatives of two other city councils stood behind him at Norfolk State University's Dick Price Stadium.

``This all came together in such a short time. In about six hours the mayors had all come together and said lets do it. That's really a tribute to the political leadership in this region.''

Hampton Roads officials had no idea just a week ago they would have a chance to host the 1998 games, which had already been awarded to Norman, Okla. Hampton Roads had bid this summer to host the games in 2000 or 2001.

But as luck would have it, a check from Norman to the AAU bounced last Thursday as a site selection committee was touring Hampton Roads. The committee offered the 1998 games to Hampton Roads Thursday afternoon while inspecting Haygood Skating Center in Virginia Beach.

``Our group was so impressed with the facilities here and the cooperation among the cities,'' said Dodd, who relayed the offer from the AAU's national headquarters in Orlando.

By that evening, officials had confirmed nearly two dozen venues were available and the seven cities would fund an estimated $1.5 million budget.

``It's difficult to get one city to make a decision that quickly, much less seven,'' said Dodd, son of the legendary Georgia Tech football coach of the same name, who also gave the region the option to host the AAU Junior Olympics in 2000, 2001 or 2002.

The region has cooperated in several other amateur sports endeavors, including an AAU national girls basketball tournament coming to Virginia Beach in 1999, the 1998 McDonald's All-American game and a regional USA Track and Field meet coming to Norfolk this summer.

But the cooperation on the AAU Junior Olympics may have been unprecedented. Billy Mann, a sales representative for the Norfolk Visitors and Convention Bureau, and Buddy Wheeler, from the Visitors Center in Virginia Beach, began working together in 1996 on the AAU bid.

This summer, when they made their pitch for the 2001 games in Orlando, Ron Coleman from Virginia Beach, Ray White from Hampton, Warren Harris from Chesapeake, Boo Williams from the Boo Williams AAU basketball teams and Jeff Sias from the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce joined Mann and Wheeler on the trip.

``Virginia Beach has been there every step of the way,'' Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim said. ``The other cities have all joined us.''

Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said a regional effort was necessary to land the Junior Olympics.

``No one city could have done this,'' she said. ``It took an effort from the entire Hampton Roads family to get this done.''

Dodd said more than 13,000 athletes and 30,000 additional visitors will spend between $35 million and $40 million at the games, tentatively scheduled for July 28-Aug. 8. The Olympics, for athletes ages 9-18, will be held primarily in Virginia Beach and Norfolk, but events will be held in Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Newport News and Hampton. Suffolk won't have any events, but agreed to help fund the Olympics.

Dodd said the economic-impact numbers are real. He says a 12-member AAU team he took to the 1997 Junior Olympics in Charlotte last year spent $12,000. The average visitor will stay 8-10 days and spend $500 just on on hotels.

Fraim said the region must now concentrate on hosting the events rather than attracting more.

``We've got a lot on our plate,'' he said. ``People are actually starting to call us now, asking us to handle events. But first, we've got to make sure we have the right organizational framework for this event and other events coming in.'' < ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MOTOYA NAKAMURA

Bobby Dodd Jr., executive director of the Amateur Athletic Union,

praised the teamwork by the region's seven cities Wednesday.

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