Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 17, 1993 TAG: 9307170125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Had the clinic and games found a permanent home in Hampton after 12 years in Lynchburg?
Based on what happened in the peninsula city's first effort at throwing a four-day party for Virginia's coaches and top graduating senior athletes, the answer is yes.
Based on the old saying "Nothing is forever," Hampton might not be a permanent home, but it could be a long time before the clinic and all-star games wear out their welcome.
Hampton coach Mike Smith, the director of the all-star games, and Jim Sangston, who leads the clinic, did a great job.
Attendance at the clinic was around 1,000, the same as at Lynchburg. Smith said a few more coaches from the eastern part of the state attended while fewer from the southwest participated.
As for the all-star games, the football players got the most benefit from changing sites. At Lynchburg, there was nothing to do when the players weren't practicing. As the football teams usually drill for several days before the game, players were left with a lot of idle hours with nothing to do.
This year, they visited Busch Gardens and Water World in nearby Williamsburg, took the Miss Hampton boat tour and visited Langley Air Force Base and the Virginia Air and Space museum. They did not have to stare at the walls in their dorm rooms.
"I know one thing," said West assistant coach Joel Hicks of Pulaski County. "You don't see all the sites you see here in Pulaski County."
According to crowd estimates, the football and basketball games were slightly better attended than they were in Lynchburg. The pregame ticket sales were better in Lynchburg, but sales at the gate were better in Hampton. However, it was the first year at the site, so the games were a novelty for high school fans in the peninsula. That accounts for some of the attendance increase.
The games still must be officially approved to return to Hampton next year, but given this summer's success, that will be only a formality. It's also doubtful that Lynchburg will be apply for the games to return this soon.
"We wanted everyone to have a good time. When we came up here, it was nothing against Lynchburg, we just wanted the opportunity," said Smith.
\ LIKES DARLING STADIUM: In the past month, Cave Spring's Tiki Barber, a University of Virginia football signee, has owned Darling Stadium. Too bad it's not UVa's home field.
In early June, Barber won Group AAA state championships in the triple and long jumps on the West sideline at Darling Stadium.
In the all-star football game Friday night, his 89-yard touchdown run was on the same side, just yards from the long- and triple-jump site. Barber ran parallel to the take-off area, only he didn't jump into the end zone.
Barber also had a 42-yard touchdown reception, thrown by Salem quarterback Tra Wilson. The two might might have played high school football together had the rumors been true that Barber and his twin brother, Ronde, would transfer to Salem. That was so much wishful thinking on the part of Spartans fans.
"I knew playing in the same backfield with Tra would be something special," said Barber.
\ FORD OR WARD: William Fleming's Kevin Ford got a chance to play with Kevin Ward once more before their careers ended. Ward attended Fleming until last year when he transfered to Chantilly in Northern Virginia. Both were good enough to earn spots on the West team for the all-star football game.
Ward was accompanied in the on-field introductions by his uncle, Kenny Belton of Washington, D.C. Belton was one of Roanoke College's greatest Division III basketball players and the first player Ed Green recruited when he landed the Maroons' head coaching job in 1977.
\ COACHING CHANGES: Former Bath County coach Steve Williams has been appointed basketball coach at Appomattox High School. He already was the head football coach at the Seminole District school.
Williams becomes the second area coach at a Group AA school who will handle basketball and football. Bassett appointed boys' basketball coach Bobby Martin its interim football coach for this year.
Most administrators don't want one person to be head coach of a school's two most-visible sports, but both schools either had a problem finding a teaching position for a new coach (at Appomattox) or didn't feel it could find a coach for one of the sports (football at Bassett) in time for the new school term.
With teaching positions hard to come by because of tight budgets, this could become a normal move. Gone are the days when principals and superintendents could hire a coach and then place him or her in a teaching slot. Now they have to make sure there is an opening and that the prospective coach is qualified to fill that space.
by CNB