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Clark Atlanta University Panther
April 16, 1991
Tennis Team Sweeps MB
By ANTHONY GEORGE III
Sports Editor
Clark Atlanta University's men and women tennis teams
continued to feast on their opponents , as they cumulatively won seven
out of eight games played the previous two weeks.
The women improved their record to 9-0, as they defeated
Morris Brown twice 9-0 April 2 and April 4. It was the first time this
season they won all their matches against a team. In other games, the
lady Panthers defeated Tuskegee 5-1 April 5, the loss on a default, and
Fort Valley 6-3 April 10.
The men also had a clean sweep of Morris Brown twice, 9-0,
and defeated Fort Valley 7-2. The Panthers lost to Tuskegee 7-2.
The men's overall record improved to 7-2.
"Tuskegee has a real strong men's team," said coach Oliver
McClendon. "I was a little disappointed that we lost a couple of the
singles matches because some of our players had beaten them before.
I'm just looking forward to the Tuskegee Relays to have another
opportunity to play them."
The women played one of their toughest opponents of the
season against Fort Valley. After the six singles matches, both teams
were tied with three wins. But the lady Panthers were able to sweep past
the lady Wildcats in each of the double matches. The most notable loss
in the single matches was Ronica Harris. She lost for the first time this
season 6-2, 6-3. Harris record for the season is 9-1.
"I don't think Ronica lost to a better opponent, but she lost
because of her glasses," McClendon said. "She was wearing her new
glasses for the first time, and I don't think she had adjusted to wearing
them."
Both teams are preparing for the Tuskegee Relays in Tuskegee
on April 19-20, and the Conference tournament, April 26-27.
Other Notables: Clarence Thomas won his first match of
the year with his win over a Morris Brown. Kathy Simon improved her
overall record to 9-1. The lady Panthers only lost for the second time
this season in doubles matches with the loss to Tuskegee.
Cumulatively in doubles matches, they are 24-2.
PHOTOS BY ANTHONY GEORGE m
Both Portia Hamilton (above), and Monique Caesar (below), had easy
victories against Morris Brown April 2 and April 4.
Intramural Basketball Stopped
By ANTHONY
GEORGE III
Sports Editor
The Clark Atlanta
University intramural basketball
season was discontinued after the
second week because of the lack
of finances.
According to Dr. Larry
Earvin, Dean of Students Affairs
and Associate Provost, CAU was
not able to continue to pay
officials. As an alternative, a
double-elimination tournament
is tentively being scheduled for
mid-April.
Dr. Raymond Hughes,
intramural Director , said this
year there were 18 teams
participating. Since there was an
unequal amount of games played
for each team, there could not be
a legitimate champion. A double
elimination tournament will give
each team a fair opportunity to
win the Red and Black
championship.
Dr. Hughes also cited
the reason for stopping the
regular season is because of the
lack of finances to pay the
officials. He estimated that 135
games would have been played
this year for 18 teams playing a
round-robin schedule. Regular
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference officials are paid
$125 per game, plus travel
expenses. CAU was currently
paying officials $25 per-game,
but would not be able to continue
this for the entire season.
Currently the officials used are
certified officials presently on
the CAU staff. He insisted that
unqualified officials would be
disruptive to league play.
Many intramural
basketball athletes were upset at
the cancellation of the season,
and did not agree with Dr. Hughes
assessment not having
alternatives to referee the games.
"If they can't find
anyone to referee, the university
must surely have a problem,"
said Alfred Lee, first-year player
for the Atlanta Hoopers.
"Intramural gives many of us an
opportunity to play organized
ball, and also helps relieve
tension of school. They should
get students to referee or other
alternatives. They should have a
season regardless of the
circumstances."
Michael Carter, first-
year player for the Untouchables,
shared the same sentiments. "I
heard the season was cancelled
because they couldn't pay the
officials. It is really upsetting
because I was looking forward to
playing. It doesn't surprise me
though because of the lack of
organization at CAU. They
could have gotten volunteers to
referee," he said.
Dr. Hughes said there
are many problems of asking for
volunteer or student officials.
The examples he cited were: 1.
Students do not respect other
students to officiate a game. 2. It
is hard finding dependable
volunteer officials. After a
couple of games, most will quit
because of the abuse by
intramural players. 3. Intramural
should be officiated by qualified
officials. If any player has a
question about a rule, the official
should be very knowledgeable.
"Intramural sports at an
university level should be
officiated by qualified officials,"
Dr. Hughes said. "Intramural
sports are governed by the
American Association for
Intramural Sports and
Recreational Facilities and the
American Alliance of Health and
Physical Education and Dance at
the university level. The
national rules are parallel to the
rules and guidelines prescribed
by the rules of intercollegiate
athletics.
"You cannot grab
people out of the stands and
thrust a whistle in their hands,
then tell them to call the game.
People must realize that you
don't call games, you must
officiate them. Individuals who
act as officials are responsible
for the control and the conduct of
the activity."
Dr. Hughes also said
that intramural basketball is
highly competitive. Most of the
athletes who participate are
former high school players, or
players with a lot of skill. Most
players play for pride and
prestige and other reasons for
their organization. It would be a
disservice for them to play with
unqualified officials.
"Most small
predominantly African American
universities lack adequate
financial resources," Dr. Hughes
said. "More than often we are
expected to do more with less. If
it is necessary to do less with
more quality, it seems to me in
an educational setting that less
should be the choice."
Int’l Soccer Team On Hold
By Pierce Huff
Staff Writer
Freshman Al-amin Ally, who came to
Clark Atlanta University from Nairobi, Kenya on
Jan. 11, joined the CAU International soccer team
because he just wanted to play organized soccer.
For Ally, the transition to the U.S. style
of soccer has been a slow one. In Kenya, the
players have positions set by certain number and are
not allowed to do as much freelancing on the field.
The players are also allowed to get paid and play for
breweries.
"Soccer is better in Kenya than it is in the
United States, it's more organized," said Ally, who
played soccer for Nairobi's Agakhan high school.
But now all of that hardly matters as Ally
and his teammates find themselves trying to leave
the Atlanta Soccer League (ASL) and join the NCAA
as an entry level Division II soccer team.
"I don't like us playing in the Atlanta
Soccer League,” said Clyde Gaylord, Admissions
Director at CAU and unofficial team coach. "The
guys play under bad conditions and are liable to
deliberate and sometimes inadvertent injuries. I
want to see our soccer team play at a higher level."
The most logical move for the soccer team
would have been to try and join the Southern
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), but the
SIAC only has two soccer teams in Alabama A&M
and Morris Brown.
"We've got no complaints with the
possibility of having to play Morris Brown, but
there just aren't enough teams in the SIAC to build a
schedule around," Gaylord said.
One thing that has complicated the soccer
team's effort to join the NCAA was the resignation
of Clark athletic director Raymond Williams last
month. Williams was a former SIAC commissioner
and had served as a liaison between the team and the
NCAA. His resignation setback the team's efforts
and forced it to have to deal with Panthers' football
coach Willie Hunter, the university's acting
athletics director.
"We've been getting good support from
coach Hunter," said team co-captain Tommy Gates.
"He's done a good job of talking with Dr. Cole and
trying help us get a new schedule approved. But Mr.
Williams is experienced and was working with the
alumni associations."
If the soccer team can't get in the NCAA,
there is still the possibility that it could still play
against Georgia college soccer teams like Georgia
Tech, Berry College, Emory University and Georgia
State.
"Right now we're in the process of talking
to teams in Georgia, because that's our best bet
considering our limited funds," Gaylord said. . "But
we're really looking to pl?v teams anywhere."
The soccer team has also been looking
into the possibility of playing scrimmage games.
"I think that our scrimmaging against
other soccer teams would work, but first we would
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