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The Roanoke Times

File 2008 D.J. Palmer, shown at basketball practice at Christiansburg High School, is one of the players who will participage in this weekend's "Backyard Brawl."

| Chuck Altizer

Special to The Roanoke Times

It started with a road trip to see a basketball game and has turned into one of the most successful high school team basketball camps in the area.

And now it prepares to bring exciting basketball action to Christiansburg for the fourth straight year this weekend.

Dubbed "The Backyard Brawl" by its founder and organizer Kevin Stoner, a local businessman, the two-day event gives high school coaches a chance to look at their teams for the upcoming season in a competitive camp environment.

"Doug Hylton (former Christiansburg High School coach) and I were riding to Charleston to see the West Virginia-Marshall basketball game, and this idea came out of the conversation," said Stoner, a member of the Christiansburg High School Booster Club.

"The first year we had 14 teams, and now it is grown to 40, and next year it could be even bigger."

One of the biggest draws for the camp is that teams get to play teams they don't see during the regular season in a friendly competition between two states that historically haven't always gotten along.

This year's event features state champions from the AAA and AA ranks in West Virginia along with state tournament participants from all three of Virginia state classifications.

Teams from Virginia and West Virginia are ranked and then pair up in six-team groups with the top teams from one state playing six games against the top teams from the other state. It is a format the coaches like because it really gets their teams ready.

"The benefit is you are going to play high-quality teams, teams that have been in the playoffs," said Nelson County's coach Brandon Garrett.

"The way the format is set up -- the West Virginia versus Virginia -- it brings a lot of excitement to the camp because you have the Virginia kids pulling for the Virginia kids and the West Virginia kids pulling for the West Virginia kids. My guys ask me all the time if we are going back to Christiansburg for camp."

New Blue Demons coach Shawn Good is taking on the role of host coach.

Even though Good feels there is no difference in being the host coach or a visiting coach to the camp, he does know what he is looking for from his new troops in a camp as competitive as this one.

"I think the Brawl gives you a chance to see a gambit of things, because the West Virginia teams, because of their offseason rules, come in very prepared," Good said.

"The main thing is to see how the kids compete and how they handle things. You don't have a lot of time to put plays in and defenses in, so I just throw things in here and there and see how the kids react."

The competition is also a chance for players to play in front of college coaches, which has made coming to the camp a success story for Nelson County in the past.

A couple of years ago, the Governors had a solid team and players that were relatively unknown. But after attending camp, the rural school near Lynchburg had four players go on to play collegiately, three at the Division II level and one at the Division III level.

While Division I coaches will not be present because of NCAA rules, despite several Division I prospects playing, for the Division II and III coaches it is a chance for them to find undiscovered players. It is these opportunities and the way his players are treated that keeps Garrett and the Governors coming back.

"We tell our guys, and they know by now, coaches watch these camps, and there is an opportunity, and they will have their time to shine, but the kids like being around each other and these guys really like going back year after year," said Garrett, whose teams attend four to five camps a summer.

"Kevin has been great to us and treated us really well. He works with us to help make our stay easier. You name it he helps take care of it. It is a situation that if you are treated well you want to go back, and it isn't a situation of going somewhere unfamiliar, and people don't know who you are and don't care who you are."

The impact to the economy of the area is great as well.

The Christiansburg Parks and Recreation Department, which has been successful in bringing quality baseball tournaments to the Harkrader Sports Complex, has now teamed up with the camp instead of being a co-sponsor and building provider.

Charlton McCoy is the supervisor of special events and recreation center at Christiansburg Parks and Recreation.

McCoy knows this was a great opportunity to help bring income to local businesses and maybe even show off a little.

"It is nice when a West Virginia team comes in and says, 'Wow, look what they have here,' " McCoy said. "It is a chance for us to show off what the town allows us to do, and I look for it to be a good event for not only us but the town in general. It will be interesting to see what the numbers are on the economic side. Out of 40 teams that is a lot of kids, parents and coaches coming into town."

Stoner couldn't be happier with the partnership with the town and the event.

"Art Price and his staff have grown to know that putting on sporting events in Christiansburg has allowed the town to find a niche in tourism," he said. "We want our local businesses to reap the rewards, think about what 400 people eating six meals a day does to the local economy."

The camp has grown over the last four years and the future is bright as goals are in place to have more than 30 teams spend at least one night in Christiansburg.

With teams coming from places such as Alexandria in Northern Virginia and Morgantown, W.Va., the camp's reputation for affordable cost, atmosphere and competition is spreading.

While there are two sportsmanship awards presented, one for each state, the battle lines have been drawn. Even though nobody will come out and directly say they want to beat the other state, you know they are thinking it as Good noted.

"It will be good to see how the Virginia teams compare to what you see in West Virginia."

Let the bragging rights battle begin.