Page 6
Black Ink
November 5. 1984
features
Black Athletes Enjoy
Non-revenue Sports
by Shirley Hunter
Staff Writer
Athletes at Carolina are usually
associated with the big-time, revenue
producing sports like basketball and
football. But there's a different group of
athletes here — those who enjoy non
revenue sports like wrestling, gym
nastics and cross-country.
And a few of them are Black.
Blacks who participate in non
revenue sports are rare indeed —
they've not had the monetary incentive,
exposure to or the opportunity to par
ticipate in these sports in the past.
"Most students in general aren't
exposed to sports outside of football,
basketball and baseball at the high
school level," Dot Gunnels, women's
golf coach, said in a recent interview.
"It's a little hard to come into college
without any experience and try to play
(non-revenue) sports."
She said many of the non-revenue
sports at Carolina were not offered at
the high school level because of limited
funding. In addition, many non
revenue sports are too expensive for
either Black or white students to play.
For example, there were no Blacks
on the 1984 golf team, she said.
Swimming Coach Frank Comfort
agreed with Gunnels and said Carolina
coaches didn't necessarily try to recruit
Black athletes either. "We recruit the
best athletes possible," he said.
Nevertheless, several Blacks at the
University have overcome the prob
lems of tradition, under-exposure and
expense to play on non-revenue sports
teams.
Christine Thorne, a senoir from
Maryland, is the only Black on the
Carolina gymnastics team this year.
She said the situation was the same in
high school.
She pointed out that many Blacks
couldn't participate because of the
sport's expense, but said she saw a
bright future for it because of greater
accessibility in Black communities. "It's
coming along," she said.
Introduced to wrestling in junior
high school, Tracy Davis, a junior from
High Point, wrestles for Carolina along
s
o
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D
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A,
Hate It's a war waging inside
bubbling to the surface at times
hidden away
no one knows it's there
It has been there for a lonq time
brewing and raging to get out
frustations bungled in with dislikes and despises
a way to hurt but the will to hold it in
never vented out towards an invulnerable
It's there for the wars, the prejudices
and those who take without giving
one day something will release it
but for now it's concealed within
-a body.
It's
with his twin brother Stacey. Although
wrestling is a slightly more popular
sport than gymnastics with Blacks,
Carolina still has few Blacks on the
team.
Davis said he was welcomed on the
team by his white teammates and had
encountered no racism from teammates
or opposing team members. "We're all
working toward one goal — winning,"
he said. "Nothing else matters."
Although track is a popular sjx)rt
for Blacks, cross-country running is
not. Traditionally, Blacks have been
thought to be poor long-distance run
ners and that may be changing, accor
ding to Hubert West, assistant track
and field coach.
"The myth that Blacks aren't
suited for long-distance running is no
longer believed," West said. "Blacks
are discovering that long-distance
running is a good background for
track and field."
Alissa Murray, a junior from Il
linois, thought so too. She joined the
cross-country team last summer to
help her sprinting.
Murray, like Davis, said she'd
encountered no racial problems as
the only Black on the team. She said
she believed that sports provided a
different atmosphere from the real
world--producing less racial tension
on the playing field.
She added, "Believing the at
mosphere is perfect would be
idealistic, but it's a good starting place"
for reducing racial tension.
However, Donald Cogsville, a
freshman from New Jersey, who plays
UNC soccer, said racism had often
greeted him on the playing field. He
said opposing team players made racial
slurs during matches to distract him. "I
used to react violently, but now I use it
to inspire me," he said.
Soccer actually represents an in
teresting phenomenon in this country
because it is widely played by Blacks in
other parts of the world, yet few Blacks
play on the Carolina soccer team.
"It bothers me that more Blacks
don't play the sport," Cogsville said.
"It's going to happen though — it's just
a matter of time."
Comina
The Department of Dramatic Arts at North Carolina Central University will
present a world premiere production, FASCINATION MAN, written by
NCCU Professor and playwright, Randolph Umberger and directed by Dr.
Linda Kerr Norflett. The play is a comedy in three acts suggested by
Synge's PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, and opens Wednesday,
November 14, at 8:15 P.M. in the University Theatre of the Farrison-Newton
Communications Building. The show will run nightly through November 17
and will have a 3:15 P.M. matinee on Sunday, November 18. Ticket prices
are as follows; Adult advance/reservations - $3.50; adult at door - $4.00;
NCCU student, children under 18 years and senior citizens advance/reser-
vations - $1.50; NCCU student, children under 18 and senior citizens at
door - $2.00; Special rates for groups of ten or more. For more information,
call 683-6242.
Human Rights Week Nov. 12-15
Nov. 12
12:00 - World Hunger Simulation : A meal will be held which depicts the
various levels of eating habits throughout the world - from the very rich to
the impoverished. The Pit. (Raindate; Tues. 12:00, Pit). Sponsored by
Carolina Union Weekly Features Committee.
4:00 - Changes in the Senate and The Effect on Human Rights: This topic
will be discussed by Dr. Pollit of the Political Science Department. Union
205.
Nov. 13
12:30 The Significance of the Election for People's Movements:A panel
discussion concerning movements for justice and peace, sponsored by the
Communist Workers Party. Union 205.
5:00 - Greensboro Civil Rights Fund: A videotape and discussion of the
Klan/Nazi massacre in Greensboro and its implications a about American
society. Y Lounge.
Nov. 14
2:00 - A Black in Chapel Hill: Mr. Fred Battle, the local president of the
Rainbow Coalition, speaks on his experiences as a minority in our com
munity. Union 206.
AN EVENING WITH...AUTHOR
JAMES
BALMN
Celebrating Human Rights Week
Monday, November 12, 8pm
Memorial Hall
Admission FREE
A Carolina Union Forum Committee Presentation
Presented by the Carolina Union and the Campus Y
Diana Lowery