THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607040175
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: 120 lines
LOOKING OUT of his third-story office window at the Municipal Building with its scenic view of downtown Portsmouth, Rudolph Freeman remembered when he started his job.
His title has been the same for the past 41 years - athletic director in city recreation.
But Freeman, 67, who stepped down from that position Monday, has seen a bundle of changes through all those years.
Freeman says he is retiring ``from the only job I guess I ever really wanted.''
When he started, he was tucked away in a little building at the old Douglass Park Center, where a parsonage now stands.
``It was January 1956, and Earl Agnor was the recreation director,'' Freeman recalled. ``Our department consisted of three. Buck Campbell was athletic director for the whites, and I became the athletic director for the blacks. I replaced Thomas Tucker, who had resigned.''
Freeman, who had just completed a four-year stint in the Air Force as a radar operator, heard about the job opening from his mother. Ruth Freeman Hendricks headed the city's program for black playgrounds and centers.
``We did it all then - everything from lining off the fields to officiating games,'' Freeman said.
Now, there are more than 200 employees in Leisure Services, an umbrella department that includes a merged parks and recreation program. Freeman directs more than 70 employees.
``When I started, it was just a recreation bureau under the Social Services Department,'' he recalled. ``This was the days of segregation. The blacks played all our baseball, softball and football on the old Truxton field.
``When integration first came along, the white teams and the black teams had games at Highland-Biltmore. I can remember the big crowds that came out to those games. And no problems.
``We had the first mixture of blacks and whites in Little League baseball and the Babe Ruth program we had at that time. It went well.''
When Campbell became recreation director, Freeman served as athletic director for the entire program.
``We had the recreation department in Dale Homes,'' he said. ``Then it was moved to Camden Avenue and then to the old Seaboard building. Then we moved to the Colony Theater and finally to where we are now.
``I've worked under four recreation directors, and the city has had quite a few city managers and mayors during that time. I developed a very close relationship with the late Irvine Smith when he was mayor because he also was the commissioner of District 6 Little League, and we were involved with the development of the Little League program.''
Through the years, Freeman, a 1949 graduate of Norcom High School, became a key figure in the growth of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. The tournament, featuring some of the top college basketball players in the country, is sponsored by the city under the supervision of the recreation department. For the past five years, Freeman has been the director.
Earlier, he served a long stint as assistant director.
``I wasn't in on its early years because it began as a white tournament in the '50s,'' Freeman said. ``I didn't get involved until about 1968. Now the PIT is one of the finest sports events in Tidewater, and I'm very proud of my association with it.
``It has given me the opportunity to meet some of the players who have gone on to become professional basketball's finest, to rub elbows with some of the great old players who come here, and to talk and get acquainted with many of the college coaches.''
In filling in as a referee and umpire at youth football and baseball games, Freeman developed a love for officiating. That led to his becoming a certified official in the Virginia High School League and the college ranks, a hobby he plans to continue.
``I guess I worked 20 or 25 games the past season in football,'' he said. ``That's something else that has really changed, too. When I began, I got $11.75 for a game. Don't ask me how they came up with that 75 cents.
``Now it's $60 for a high school game and $150 minimum for a college game.''
At 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, Freeman actually is trimmer now than in years past.
``I've been 5-foot-11 for a long time, but I was up to 238 pounds a while back,'' he said.
City councilman Jim Martin works on the same high school and college officiating teams with Freeman.
``I guess my biggest thrill has been working two NCAA playoff games, one in Alabama and the other in South Carolina,'' said Freeman. ``But I've had some exciting high school games, too. Like that Eastern Region championship game a few years back when Wilson beat Norcom in the closing seconds, and Wilson went on to win the state championship.''
Freeman has taken on numerous other volunteer tasks in athletics. He's state coordinator for the Hershey Track and
Field Youth Meet, a position he will relinquish after this year.
He's also a clinician for the National Youth Sports Coaches Association.
``I've loved my job,'' he said. ``But when you start slowing down and it gets tougher to drag yourself out of bed in the morning, it's time to step aside.
``When problems arise, the job takes a lot of patience. I'm happy to say that I was able to handle it.
``Having the opportunity to work with folks all across the city and especially all the young people I've watched grow up and take their place in volunteer programs has been very fulfilling for me.
``It's been 41 wonderful years.
``Now I'm just going to sit back and relax for a while. I don't fish, I don't play golf. Maybe I'll play a little tennis again.
``Who knows? I may get tired of this life of leisure and go job hunting again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos, including color cover, by MARK MITCHELL
Among the memorabilia in Freeman's office is this photo of football
officials. The third referee from the right, Freeman became a
certified official in the Virginia High School League and the
college ranks, a hobby he plans to continue.
Once part of a three-man segregated department in 1956, Rudolph
Freeman directed more than 70 employees from his downtown office
before his retirement on Monday.
Pictured circa 1986, Freeman has been a key figure in the growth of
the PIT since 1968, including director the past five years.
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