Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170038
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
At a forum to discuss the possibility of the sport, a subcommittee looking into the matter decided to send a proposal to Radford's Student Government Association.
If the body passes the referendum, and President Douglas Covington approves it, a student vote on football at Radford could be taken as early as January.
The chances of RU football becoming a reality, however, depend a great deal on how much money students are willing fork over in the upcoming years.
A few in the audience of about 30 students and faculty members questioned an added financial burden at a time when state money for academics is dwindling. Others wondered how the school would attract football fans when attendance at basketball games fluxuates from sellouts to disappointments.
A few emphatically supported the idea of football, but only if they could see a team take the field within two years.
Patrick Ware, a graduate student who leads the SGA football subcommittee, estimated the cost for start-up and first-season play would set the university back about $1.5 million.
For the program to start in two years, he said, students would have to pay $150 more a year in activity fees. That's on top of the $1,098 in activity fees students already pay each year.
Still, the few who raised their hands in support of the idea were enough to persuade Ware and his group to become the official Get-Football-to-Radford committee.
The group spent this fall visiting NCAA Division I-AA football programs at Liberty, VMI, Towson State and Charleston Southern - potential Radford opponents.
Ware cited several of the benefits those schools are enjoying with football, including media exposure for the school and increased school spirit. Besides, he said, it's a great attraction for alumni to visit - and spend their money.
"What's better than a tailgate party?" Ware asked.
Athletic Director Chuck Taylor said he supported the discussion. But he said he isn't sure Radford could handle such an undertaking financially.
"We're operating on a budget that's less than it was two years ago, and we still have 17 collegiate sports," he said.
But, he said, it never hurts to try. "It's an area that's not been touched, and that's why it's healthy to discuss it."
by CNB