ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996 TAG: 9611150017
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Traveling soccer has taken on a new definition for the Roanoke Star Under-12 girls' White team this fall.
Sixteen Roanoke-area girls, coached by Sharon McCulley and Kelley Bulkley, have rented a bus each Sunday, journeyed to Northern Virginia, often played a doubleheader against two challenging opponents, and then returned home.
In most cases, the bus stops have been uncharted territory: Chantilly, Arlington, Dumfries, Warrenton. "We play our home games at Stafford,'' McCulley said. "That's near Fredericksburg.''
Usually, the routine has required an early bedtime Saturday night, a 6:30 a.m. Sunday departure, and arriving home 16 hours later - a grueling test for any athlete.
Such a schedule may seem cruel and unjust punishment to the uninitiated, but there has been a method behind the madness, McCulley insisted.
"This is the first time a team from Roanoke has competed in the WAGS (Washington Area Girls Soccer) league,'' McCulley said. "Because of the lack of competition we'd been getting around here, we explored the idea, talked to the parents, and decided to give it a shot.
"The girls supposedly completed their homework before they went [each week]. We emphasize schoolwork.''
"We voted at the beginning of the year, and everybody on the team wanted to play more competitive soccer,'' said Carlie Smith, 12, a sixth-grader at James Madison Middle School and the team's leading scorer.
The Roanoke team finished its 10-game season in early November with a 1-5-4 mark, but McCulley pointed to several factors that temper her team's modest record.
"There were 66 teams playing, and we started out in Division II, part of the second 11 teams from the top,'' McCulley said. "We were slotted there because of our previous record.''
Had the Star team competed in even a slightly lower-level division, its won-lost record could have been significantly better.
"And realistically, we'd have beaten at least three of the teams we played if it hadn't been the second game of the day for us. A lot of times, we just didn't quite have the legs.''
Roanoke's opposition was playing just one game on Sunday, as the local teams were not forced to squeeze the entire week's schedule into a single day. "A second game is a lot tougher,'' McCulley said.
"The soccer [in Northern Virginia] has been harder, more of a challenge,'' said Dani Poe, 11, also a sixth-grader at Madison. "We've played well, but haven't won many games. Some of the other [opposing players'] parents said their teams wouldn't play well if they had to travel four hours to play.''
One member of Roanoke's team, Talbott Head, coincidentally moved to Alexandria with her family early in the season. While Head has been unable to maintain regular practice with her teammates, at least she has avoided the 450-mile weekend commute.
"Renting a bus has been fairly expensive,'' McCulley said. "The weekly cost has been between $37 and $50 per family.
"The great thing about this has been the commitment of the parents to do what they need to do in order to improve their children's soccer ability,'' McCulley said. "It doesn't do anyone any good if you don't have competition.''
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER/Staff. Coach Sharon McCulley instructsby CNBElizabeth Hale during a practice session. McCulley and the team
travel 4 1/2 hours each way every weekend to play against tougher
competition in Northern Virginia.