President's Corner
A word from VAS President - Dan Foutz
To all our supporters, athletes, coaches, sponsors, and volunteers,
Happy 35th Anniversary to the Virginia Commonwealth Games & Virginia Amateur Sports. In 1989, Governor Douglas Wilder and the Governor's Commission on Sports & Physical Fitness passed an endorsement that Virginia Amateur Sports (VAS) would serve as the state organization to hold the State Games of Virginia. The first Games were held in 1990 drawing 4,400 athletes competing in 29 sports. After having several title sponsors over the years, the Games continued to grow. In October of 2015, the Games became the Virginia Commonwealth Games at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. In our first year in Lynchburg, approximately 9,200 athletes competed in over 55 sports. This past year, we had over 10,000 athletes competing in the Games. Thank you to Liberty University, the City of Lynchburg, our sponsors and you, for helping with our continued success!
Much of our growth and success was due to the leadership of Pete Lampman. Pete served as our President for over 25 years before retiring in 2016. Please view the featured article on Pete as he is now a member of the VAS Board of Directors and walks us through the history of the Games.
We are looking forward to 2024 with new goals and resolutions. I hope you all are staying true to your new year’s resolutions with planning and training for the schedule of sporting events we have planned for the year. As always, we appreciate your support and participation. I look forward to seeing you all out there!
Best wishes!
Dan Foutz |
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by Chris Moody - VAS Contributor
What does an organization like Virginia Amateur Sports look like from a seat by the boardroom table? Pete Lampman is finding out.
Lampman is best known and fondly remembered as the president and director of VAS for 25 years before his retirement at the end of 2016. On Jan. 1, he officially became a member of the VAS Board of Directors.
Lampman oversaw the Games rise from a handful of competitions to a broad variety of events that had an Olympic style atmosphere. Helping him build the programs and the VAS organization was a capable and visionary board of directors that had dozens of members come and go throughout those years. He understood the vital role the board played, but he never had the perspective of a board member.
“I’ll be looking behind the scenes, seeing what they were seeing when I was working” Lampman said. “Their perspective as a board member, as opposed to being the director, is different and I’m learning that.”
Lampman has been to a board meeting already as an observer, but there was nothing there to surprise him. Since leaving the formal leadership role seven years ago, Lampman has been helping where needed. He coordinates volunteers at several of the events and even dons the stripes to referee basketball in the Commonwealth Games tournament once the days’ games get up and running. (Read More) |
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