ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240009
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Community Sports
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
Local high school students and teachers may be thanking the Blizzard of 1996 for tacking on another week of vacation playtime, but area parks and recreation directors say they've seen enough of the white stuff.
Three area parks and recreation departments, Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Montgomery County, lost a combined 114 youth and adult recreation games in basketball and volleyball because of snow cancellations.
"The snow has been a real pain," Montgomery County director Tim Cooney said. "I lost nine adult league games and 26 youth games, all of which have to be rescheduled. The big problem is we're just running out of time."
Christiansburg's schedule took the biggest hit of all, losing 42 youth games and postponing the start of the area's adult basketball league. While Blacksburg and Montgomery County's adult seasons are entering their second month of games, Christiansburg teams still haven't taken to the hardwood.
Cooney said the loss of two weekends has placed his department in a real bind. Originally scheduled to end March 9, Montgomery County's basketball program is now being pushed deep into March.
"We should be all right as long as we don't get any more snow," Cooney said. "We are going to make up all missed games, but we still have some winter left and if we lose another whole weekend, there's going to be problems.
"Normally by this time, I'm stepping away from basketball a little and getting prepared for baseball. But this year I'm still in basketball because we have a lot of rescheduling we have to do. We have to reschedule games and officials ... it's becoming a real headache."
Despite the cancellations, Cooney said he has received nothing but positive remarks from league participants.
"Safety is of course our first concern, and a lot of our teams called in and said they just couldn't make it to their games," Cooney said. "No one has complained about the cancellations. They all know they'll get their games back."
Blacksburg director Phil Conner hasn't felt the wrath of the snowfall as much as his area brethren because, as Conner puts it, he enjoys a home-court advantage.
"We are a little bit lucky because we play all our games in the Blacksburg Community Center," Conner said. "The other departments rely on schools for a place to play their games. If the schools are closed, then normally they have to cancel their games."
But even with the luxury of their own gym, Conner said his staff members still felt the sting of the heavy snowfall. Blacksburg lost 37 games to snow, and must find a way to squeeze games for 142 volleyball and 78 basketball teams into the community center's three courts.
"We're struggling a little bit because things are so tight at the community center," Conner said. "We'll get it all made up, probably by the first week of April."
If you have an idea for a story or note about recreational sports, call Chad Willis at 381-1672 in Montgomery County or Radford or (800) 346-1234, extension 672 elsewhere or send a fax to 381-1656.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB