European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 05, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday october 1989 the stars and stripes Page 21 prep Pickin s coach says Mou will never work memorandum of understanding. Those three words govern the awarding of High school varsity letters to athletes competing in non Gigli school sanctioned sports. Near the end of last year i did a column on the effect awarding varsity baseball letters for participation in youth services softball and baseball two non Dodds activities had on the Dodds Spring sports program. It dealt primarily with How Many people had opted for softball and baseball Over Dodds Spring sports activities because they were now eligible for varsity letters and How several principals and athletic directors said they had not been contacted by youth services people regarding the determination of Scholastic eligibility. Dick Brown the girls softball coach at accent wrote a letter at that time pointing out that of cent had run its program As directed certifying the eligibility of All its student competitors. However in his letter he expressed the belief that the Mou concept was unworkable and should be discarded and that Dodds had two options to cancel baseball and softball in Europe or sponsor them As additional Spring programs. Everything else is passing the Buck he said. Brown s letter was sent to Dodds Atlantic officials and a reply was received during the summer. The reply was forwarded to Brown. Brown already is working with the local youth services people to ensure that the accent girls softball team will be included in the 1990 program. However recently he reiterated his position that the Mou won t work that Dodds should either cancel the softball and baseball programs or sponsor them. My beef is with Dodds Brown said. I Don t think a varsity letter should be awarded for any sport managed and operated by any Agency external to the High school. There Are two reasons behind my thoughts the first being that in general you get better coaching and Quality control when a sport is school sponsored secondly when doing things by the Mou method the sport in t truly embraced by the school that sports operated outside the school program Cre ate a great Deal of animosity among the people in the school athletes and coaches alike. There is no Way across Europe in my opinion that the Mou approach will produce a Quality pro Gram. So Dodds should either cancel softball and baseball or fund it As part of the Spring  Brown also said that the Dodds Atlantic response to his letter missed the Point. The response completely avoided the Issue Brown said monday. Nowhere was the Mou prob Lem or solution addressed. The response also was contradictory in that it said despite the Success of the accent program Dodds a is not currently in a position to implement a full girls softball pro Gram that s not True there already is a girls softball program in the . And Brown added the second paragraph to the response is completely in applicable. It deals with Diamond sports traditionally being activities sponsored by the Community during summer months and that the possibility of Dodds a Spon so Rcd Diamond sports diluting the summer program must be considered. What takes place and is sponsored by youth services during the summer months has absolutely nothing to do with prep  Brown has a valid Point there what goes on during the summer is programs should have no bearing on the Dodds thinking. Dodds a sports coordinator de Watson said last Spring when girls softball was installed As a Dodds la vol varsity sport that it was an addition to the program to give the girls another Spring sport. We Felt that the girls needed another varsity sport to help balance our program Watson said. We thought about girls soccer but there was More interest from the girls themselves in softball than there was in soccer so we went in that direction. The program has been warmly accepted by the  Belgium and the Netherlands Are part of Dodds a but All their Competition involves teams from Germany. Watson said last Spring and the response to Brown s request for Dodds sponsorship for the two sports indicated that adding girls softball to the Ben nor programs would be Loo costly so costly that one of the other Spring sports would have to be eliminated. The response said. In the Banc apr inc two sponsored athletic activities for the Spring arc soccer and track. The sponsoring of Diamond sports for All secondary schools As an additional option would be an expensive undertaking. Cancellation of track or soccer in favor of Diamond sports would have to be one consideration it was also pointed out the smaller schools would have difficulty Fielding three sports in a season because they already arc having problems with two. Both Watson and Vernon Kohout Dodds at lactic Deputy superintendent who wrote the response to Brown s letter were on extended try and were unavailable for further comment this week. The Mou dilemma All began in february 1987 when the Dodds regions received instructions from Dodds Washington to award varsity letters to non Dodds sponsored european forces swim league competitors who were in High school and met Scholastic requirements. Softball and baseball were added in july 1988, retroactive to the beginning of play that season. The first Dodds champions of the 1989-90 school year will be determined Friday afternoon when the Dodds Germany Golf championships arc completed at Ramstein s Woodlawn Golf club. All boys who turned in at least one 18-Hole score of 99 or better during the five week season qualified for the championships. Also qualifying arc All girls who completed at least one 18-Hole round during the season. The girls scores were checked each week at the end of nine holes and if they were too High they weren t allowed to continue. Ramstein s David Lockyer and Heidelberg s Jim Bagwell probably rate As the boys to beat in the two Day 36-Hole tournament. They have hovered around 80 All season. Other boys in serious Contention in clude Nornberg s Jason Calvert Vilseck s Brian har Ris Wiesbaden s Evan Moffert Heidelberg s Bill Gafford and Augsburg s Freddy Valenzuela. Niernberg s Valerie Colvin appears to be the top girl contender. There were a few surprises to me at least on the Gridiron last weekend and i had to Settle for a 16-6 Mark on the prep picks. Nevertheless the percentage climbed slightly to .723 on a season record of 47-18-1. There arc some interesting games on this week s Chart too like Berlin at Gic Ssan and shape at is in a North Frankfurt at Heidelberg and Wiesbaden at Ramstein in aaa and Woodbridge at arc Cham common in the . The visitors get my nod in All those games except Frankfurt at Heidelberg. So without any further delay i say Berlin 22, Giessen 16 shape 20, is 16 Heidelberg 21, Frankfurt 16 Wiesbaden 25, Ramstein 12 Woodbridge 28, Greenbay common 20 Wurzburg 28, Stuttgart 6 nornberg20,bitburgl2 Lanau 20, Patch 16 Zenei Brocken 22, Mannheim 16 Ulm 28, Bonn 6 Fulda 22, Brussells 18 Karlsruhe 32, Oesterberg 0 osterholz 24, accent 12 Ansbach 25, Vilseck 20 Munich 22, Augsburg 12 Bamberg 27, 12 Alconbury 20, London 12 Laken Halh 18, Raughton 6 Rota 32, Torr Jon White 6 Zaragoza 33, Torr Jon red 0 Kiihn 22, bad Kreuz Nach 18 the Halm bad Kreuz Nach game will be played Friday night at 7 . At bad Kreuz Nach. It is one of those Al no Cost to Dodds extra game arrange ments. It is Nice that the Hahn and bad Kreuz Nach foot Ball players get an extra game and the bad Kreuz Nach people arc doing it up great Replete with both bands Drill teams Etc Etera. However 1 Don t think it is fair to the other clubs in the a North and a South for Dodds to permit such games because such Competition gives the Hahn and bad Kreuz Nach players More experience that possibly can give them an Edge in other games As the season progresses. All teams in those leagues have byes and it is technically possible for every coach to get together and arrange such games. However some schools might not have the wherewithal to be Able to stage such contests at no Cost to  i believe that once a schedule has been formulated there should not be any tampering with it unless a game would have to be moved up a Day or Back a Day because the High school uses the Field at an air Force base and there is a schedule conflict seven games of course is a Flimsy schedule at Best but if that s How Many games Dodds feels it can fund the limit should apply to All schools unless some special contingency exists. There was such a problem in this this year s sched uling. It was resolved when Hanau was permitted an eighth game because there was no other Way to arrange a seventh game for Frankfurt due to the differ ent number of teams in the aaa and a. But that game was an officially scheduled Dodds event. Two players turned in spectacular performances saturday to earn recognition As stars and stripes players of the week on offence. There also were two outstanding performers on defense. Wil Ryburg has a player on both sides of the Ledger. Quarterback Steve Booth carried the Ball Only four times against Ramstein but he accounted for 131 Yards and three touchdowns Rushing. He also completed five passes for 102 Yards. Teammate Mike Mclendon became the first repeat performer of the year when he recorded 12 Solo tackles and three assists to share the accolades on defense As the wolves whipped Ramstein. Joining Booth on the offence standout list is Woodbridge running Back Billy Poole. He chalked up 222 Yards Rushing scoring on 32-, 37 and 53 Yard jaunts As the defending . Champion warriors crushed London. Pool also bad a touchdown off an intercepted pass. Rounding out the quartet is Ulm s Alberto Osario. The rugged linebacker was All Over the Field last week As the marauders eked out a 6-3 a Central Victory Over Karlsruhe. Osario was credited with 11 solos and six assists. He also broke up three passes. Ned Bowden is supplying a Bright Light for Soester Borg sports. One of the smallest schools in Dodds soc Star Borg has been having problems in the team sports. But Bowdon has been carving niches for the Falcons Over Hill and Dale. He has run Well in All the meets so far this season and won the event in the Cross coun try meet at shape last saturday touring the 5.000 meters in 17 15. Also caning their own special Niche arc the Frankfurt girls in Tennis. The eagles have won 21 straight regular season dual matches and Shea Spradlin and Cathy Simonson have dropped regular season singles matches Only to sex Heidelberg Sensa Tion Kim  who went through four years of Dodds Competition undefeated. Two of last year s Stellar athletes Brussels Jenny Ryall and Heidelberg s Eric Eicr Are off to fast starts in fall sports in the . Ryall the 1988-89 stars and stripes girls athlete of the year won her first singles match As a varsity starter on the Purdue Tennis team. Zeier the 1988 stars and stripes All Europe quarterback and Offen Sive player of the year threw for five touchdowns and 424 Yards in leading Marietta ga., High school to Victory in its first two football games. Ocier also averaged 46 Yards a punt in those victories