Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 29, 1990 TAG: 9004290105
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The transactions came about because of a fire in December that destroyed the William Fleming fieldhouse. Fleming's equipment for four sports - football, boys' and girls' track, baseball and wrestling - was stored inside the fieldhouse and destroyed.
So Fleming turned to Graves Humphries and CMT sporting goods stores and ordered about $150,000 in new equipment. The most expensive item was football gear at $77,927. The rest of the breakdown: baseball ($11,345), track ($11,451), wrestling ($32,037), football weight machine ($10,343) and miscellaneous items such as washer, dryer, scales, etc. ($5,148).
"We replaced everything that was destroyed and insurance covered the whole thing," said Howard Light, director of health and physical education for Roanoke schools.
For football, the insurance company for Roanoke schools had to put out extra money. Fleming is one of the few schools in Virginia that had three sets of football uniforms.
According to figures from Light, jersey-and-pants combinations cost about $58. Multiply that by 40 or 45 players three times and it can be costly. Some helmets and shoulder pads were saved because they were out of the fieldhouse being reconditioned at the time of the fire.
Another cost covered by insurance will be replacement of the fieldhouse. "They're going to have to gut the whole building and possibly put on a new roof," Light said. "It's been let to a contractor who is supposed to complete the job within 90 days [after its start]."
All this sounds like a bonanza for Fleming football coach Sherley Stuart, but it will not be right away.
"It's a disadvantage because we can't get the equipment until we have a place to put it," Stuart said. "If the fieldhouse isn't finished until the first of August, then a whole lot of equipment will come in and we'll have to worry about where to put it while starting [football] practice."
The Virginia High School Coaches' Association has added softball to its schedule of all-star games this summer in Lynchburg.
There will be all-star games in five sports in conjunction with the VHSCA clinic, scheduled July 9-12 at Heritage in Lynchburg.
Girls' and boys' basketball games will be held July 9 as a doubleheader at Liberty University. The softball and baseball games will be held July 11 at City Stadium. The softball game will be played in the afternoon; the baseball game at night.
The football game will be July 12 at 7:30 p.m. at City Stadium.
Noting Timesland:
Northside girls' track star Patti Fisher did not run in the Cosmopolitan meet Saturday and might pass up the Blue Ridge District meet, in which she won five events as a sophomore in 1989.
Last year, Fisher had to work out conflicts between softball and track to make the Blue Ridge and subsequent meets.
On Friday, Fisher decided to participate in a key softball game instead of the Cosmo trials. Next week, Northside has another important district softball game on the day of the Blue Ridge meet.
"The difference is that the softball team is unbeaten this year and she's a big part of that. Last year, they won only a couple of games," said James Wolfe, the Northside girls' track coach.
All-Timesland girls' basketball player Kay Caldwell of Cave Spring is staying home for her college career. Caldwell said she will attend Roanoke College next year and play for the Maroons. Caldwell averaged 17.9 points for the Roanoke Valley District champion Knights.
When Roanoke Valley Christian upset Lynchburg Christian 13-11 last week in a Virginia Independent Conference baseball game, hitting wasn't the only key. RVC's Jason Suhr set up the winning run by getting one of his five steals on the afternoon.
Franklin County wrestling coach Kris Kahila and Ferrum College assistant Melvin Martin are two of the five finalists for the Franklin County football job. The other three are not known. Kahila says that if he gets the job, he will continue coaching wrestling for one more year.
Earlier this week, a rumor circulated that Cave Spring football coach Jerry Little, who lives in Franklin County, was a late applicant and had the inside track. At least two sources said they had heard this.
Little says the rumor is just that. "I haven't applied for the job and am not a candidate. I plan to stay at Cave Spring," he said.
As usual, Pulaski County's football team will open the 1990 season at home against Anacostia of Washington, D.C. A week later, however, the Cougars will do something different.
They will take advantage of an open date to scrimmage Commonwealth District power Fauquier County in Dublin. Fauquier County also will have played a game.
No admission will be charged and it will be a controlled scrimmage. However, if history is any indication, the stands will be packed by the football-hungry Cougars fans anyway.
by CNB