Sportsplex to host pair of college football All-Star games

The Virginia Beach Sportsplex will host a pair of college all-star games on Martin Luther King Day, including the first NCAA-sanctioned game for Football Championship Subdivision players.

The FCS game, called the Lombardi Bowl, is scheduled for Jan. 16. It will be part of a doubleheader with a Division III game, to be called the Hansen Bowl.

"We've always wanted to have a college component here," said Chuck Thornton, operating manager of the SportsPlex. "They came to us, we put a bid on it, and they accepted it."

The games for college seniors are being put on by USA College Sports, Inc. President Dennis Wilson founded a Division III all-star game 14 years ago. That game took a hiatus last year. Wilson said coaches approached him about reviving it.

A conversation with Delaware coach K.C. Keeler led to the idea of the FCS game, Wilson said.

"I think it's long overdue," Wilson said. "Most (FCS) kids use the competition of football to prepare for the game of life, and this gives them a final hurrah."

Players for the FCS game will be selected by an advisory committee that includes representatives from each of the division's 14 conferences. Players honored each week by the Sports Network, which publishes the FCS poll, will be considered.

The game is named after Vince Lombardi, who played at Fordham, now an FCS member. The Division III game is named for Don Hansen, an authority on small college football who published a national weekly newsletter.

Wilson staged the Division III game in New Jersey, Fayetteville, N.C. and Shreveport, La., before it was taken over by the American Football Coaches Association and became the Aztec Bowl.

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com