THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060419
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Harry Knickerbocker, Chris Hagan and Kian Tan are Hampton Roads athletes, 43 years apart. They've never met, and most likely don't know the first thing about each other.
Yet, they have a common ally - the Norfolk Sports Club. They have been awarded scholarships by that organization, not because they were great athletes or great students, but because they were great at being both.
Knickerbocker graduated from Maury High School four decades ago, graduated from Old Dominion when it was called the College of William and Mary-Norfolk Division and has been part of the local banking and lending business ever since.
Hagan attended Maury, too. He graduated last spring and is a freshman at Virginia Tech. Business and finance are in his future.
Tan graduated from Catholic High School last year. He is a freshman at the University of Virginia, majoring in chemistry.
For Knickerbocker, who played baseball and basketball an Maury, the scholarship amounted to $250 - but was enough for him to pay for his tuition and books ``and have a couple of dollars left over.''
``It gave me my start,'' said Knickerbocker. ``It eased the way. That $250 was not a lot of money by today's standards, but it paid for one year's education. My father had died and it was just mother and I. She was a working woman. There was not a whole lot of money. I would have found a way to get there, but this certainly made it a lot easier.''
Tan, who swims and plays tennis and soccer at Catholic, received $2,000. So did Hagan, who ran cross country, wrestled and played soccer at Maury. Sports Club members never vowed they could keep up with inflation, only that they'd fight to.
``Going to U.Va. wouldn't have been a major problem, but the scholarship helped - a lot,'' Tan said Monday. ``It covered my room and board and that's been very, very nice.''
``We'd have found a way, my mom and I,'' Hagan said. ``But it made things a lot easier. You know what they say - every bit helps.''
Tonight at the Omni Waterside, the Sports Club and its friends, guests and visitors will celebrate another year - its 51st - of helping deserving South Hampton Roads athletes make their transition to college a little bit easier. In 1995 alone, the club doled out about $45,000 in scholarships to 21 recipients. That brings their total commitment to more than $500,000.
It's an accomplishment worth feting. The Sports Club will do it in fine style, with a Jamboree celebrity lineup that includes ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso, former NFL coach Sam Wyche, Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler and former Los Angeles Rams and television star Rosie Grier.
The club will announce its Tom Ferguson Award winner, given to the person designated its ``Man of the Year.'' They'll also honor their member of the year with the Joe Brown Award.
Knickerbocker continued playing sports in college, one year of baseball and through an NCAA loophole exploited by then-coach Bud Metheny, five seasons of basketball.
``I was a decent athlete,'' Knickerbocker said. ``I don't think I'd go beyond that.''
Neither would Hagan and Tan. At Virginia, Tan participates in club volleyball and is considering giving the golf team a run if he recovers from a recent shoulder injury in time. Hagan says he has no longer has designs on competitive athletics.
``I wouldn't claim to be the best in any sport,'' he said. ``That's what made the scholarship kind of surprising.''
It shouldn't have. Knickerbocker remembers being a ``decent'' student. Although Hagan claims merely to have been ``good,'' he graduated with a 3.5 grade-point average. Tan likewise calls himself decent, but excelling at accelerated courses enabled him to graduate from Catholic with a 4.2 average - on a scale where 4.0 is the highest.
If the Sports Club wanted to teach a lesson, Tan bets he knows what it would be.
``It's not just about sports,'' he offered. ``It's about balance. They help out a lot of people, not just the super-athlete. They realize that very few athletes make the pros, that the vast majority of people out here are trying to get an education and playing sports and working hard to balance their time between the two.''
Knickerbocker has been a member of the club for years, though currently on leave of absence. Tan and Hagan said their experience with the Sports Club would serve as an inducement for them to join.
``I would definitely do it,'' Hagan said. ``I wasn't the greatest of athletes, but sports are about fun and I think being a member of a sports club would help my enjoyment of sports.''
Knickerbocker says when he looks at a roster of Sports Club members, he sees the kind of people with whom he's proud to associate.
``If you look through the years, the people who have been presidents of the club are also people who have been involved in every other aspect of the civic community,'' he said. ``That's why it doesn't amaze me they could award this kind of money from year to year.
``What does amaze me is how well known the name is. Outside of the Touchdown Club in Washington, this club is as well-known as any. They've had the finest speakers in the country and they do some of the best work. There's a reason why those people come here. They know about the Club.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
BILL TIERNAN
The Virginian-Pilot
For Harry Knickerbocker, who played at Maury High 43 years ago, the
$250 scholarship was enough to pay for his tuition and books.
NORFOLK SPORTS CLUB JAMBOREE
[For a copy of the schedule and information, see microfilm for this
date.]
by CNB