ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996            TAG: 9611150018
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                PAGE: N-7  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES

COACHES SEEK COMMON GROUND

REAL MEN play football, proclaims the bumper sticker. Intelligent men play soccer, says the responding sticker.

For many sports-minded Americans, soccer and football are mutually exclusive terms.

Vast differences in equipment, training, rules and strategy often have placed the games at odds.

The color, shape and dimensions of the balls differ considerably - and, normally, so do the proponents of these respective sports.

But at Hidden Valley Junior High School in Southwest Roanoke County, a bonding between the two sports programs has reached a level that local governments can only envy.

Todd Kageals, head football coach, and Noah Spaulding, head soccer coach, are working together to develop a new soccer/football field at the school. There's no discord as to who's going to use the field when; both coaches see the construction plan as a major improvement.

The Hidden Valley soccer and football teams play their "home" games at Cave Spring Junior High School. While the seasons don't conflict (junior high football is played during the fall, and junior high soccer is played in the spring), the inconvenience of constant travel and the awkwardness of using a rival's stadium stimulated the growth of the new project.

"There is an acute need for additional athletic fields in Southwest County,'' Kageals, who just completed his third year as Hidden Valley's head football coach, wrote to the newspaper.

"The field at Cave Spring suffers from overuse, as evidenced by the bare areas and the rock-hard surface in the center."

"Todd and I started talking,'' said Spaulding, a former assistant who was promoted to head soccer coach this year. "I thought it would be great if we could play our home games at Hidden Valley, and he said he'd been thinking along the same lines.

"I understand that the football and soccer programs have had differences in the past, but our friendship grew from [the similar viewpoint]."

While both Hidden Valley coaches have appreciated Cave Spring's willingness to share, they point out that the Cave Spring field is home to myriad activities in both sports: rec clubs, Cave Spring varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams, the Roanoke RiverDawgs (semi-pro soccer), not to mention an anticipated proliferation of girls' soccer teams.

The much-publicized Cave Spring High School bond referendum that could have provided an additional sports facility did not pass last spring, and thus Hidden Valley coaches began searching for alternatives involving private funding.

A third push for the new field comes from the Southwest County Soccer Club, a recreational organization of 80 teams and 1,200 players that is providing much of the seed money.

Southwest Soccer, an extension of Roanoke County Parks and Recreation, has provided $19,000 worth of fencing materials and labor, and the fencing company lowered its price $5,000 to accommodate the cause.

"B.J. Brewer [Hidden Valley's assistant principal and athletic director] called me,'' said Don Roberts, a parent actively involved in Southwest Soccer. "This idea is definitely beneficial to our kids.

"We already have a partnership with the school; we support the school's programs, and in turn they give us a place to play.''

The site is a former practice field, so some of the construction expense has been eliminated.

Kageals said the Cave Spring High School Booster Club has contributed about $3,000.

The cost of bleachers to seat 500 spectators will run between $30,000 and $60,000, Kageals said. A number of fund-raisers are in the planning stages, and Spaulding is hopeful his team will use the field in the spring.

"We have to get more of the community involved in order to get this project completed,'' Kageals said. "This area of the county has the resources to build a community project of this scope. Once they are aware of our plans, I am confident that we will get the help we need.''

Those interested in contributing services and/or donations may call Kageals or Spaulding at Hidden Valley Junior High School, 772-7570.

LENGTH: Medium:   82 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ERIC BRADY/Staff Hidden Valley Junior High School 
          football coach Todd Kageals (left) and soccer coach Noah Spaulding 
          are working together to develop a new soccer/football field at the 
          school.