University of Virginia Library

Versatile Sroba
Is No Slouch On
Or Off The Field

By ALLEN IRISH

The stars must have been in
the right places for baseball
coach Jim West the day Steve
Sroba inked a grant-in aid to
play football at the University.

For in addition to being the
mainstay of the Cavalier
defensive backfield, the
third-year man from Trevose
Pa. is one very good
centerfielder.

Sroba, who will be
positioned at free safety during
the upcoming fall, has certainly
proved his worth on the
diamond, having been selected
second team all-ACC during
each of his three seasons and
belting the horsehide at a .333
clip this year.

At Neshaminy High School,
Steve was a two-sport athlete,
excelling in both football and
baseball. He was considered
good enough in baseball to be
one of the Chicago White Sox'
choices while he was still in
high school.

Sroba was actively recruited
by several universities, but he
finally reduced his choice to
Virginia and Dartmouth. When
he visited Charlottesville during
his senior year, he became sold
on the University, explaining,
"There was something about
this place I really liked."

For all his athletic prowess,
Sroba is by no means a
one-dimensional "jock". He is
enrolled in the rigorous
accounting program in the
Commerce school and is King
of the IMP society as well.

When the time is right,
though, Steve is not averse to
quaffing a few brews with his
fraternity brothers and can
play a pretty fair game of
foosball on the house machine.

Sroba is aware of the
"dumb jock" stereotype
prevalent a the University, and
rather resents it. He feels that
many athletes are unjustly
tagged with the label, and
offers the analogy, "when
people see a member of the
honor committee, they don't
automatically think 'politico',
do they?"

However, he doesn't blame
just the students for holding
this opinion. "If the football
players would get out and mix
more with the students", he
explains, "a lot of the
misunderstanding would
disappear. Besides, it would
make it a whole lot easier for
the students to support the
  if they were yelling for
people they knew."

In contrast to many
students, Sroba is quite
optimistic about the chances of
the football squad next fall. He
points out that this will be the
has had depth at the major
positions, especially
quarterback.

When asked who he
thought would start at the
quarterbacking spot next
season, he replied that it is a
toss-up between Davis and
Gardner. "Harrison can really
drill the ball, but Scott is more
accurate, though he doesn't
have Harrison's arm."

He wasn't certain that
quarterback was Davis' best
position. "I'd really love to see
Harrison in the defensive
backfield next year. He could
really help us there."

Steve emphatically denied
that the Alumni-Varsity game
was any indication of the
team's potential. Claiming that
the game was like a bad
practice, he said. "It's hard to
get 'up' to play a bunch of old
buzzards who are drunk and
who just want to get in a few
good licks to brag about back
at the motel."

I asked whether his favorite
sport was baseball or football.
Steve answered that "There's
nothing like a Saturday
afternoon in the fall" but said,
"just ask me the same question
when we're going through
two-a-days at the end of
August."

After he takes his degree
from the University, Sroba
hopes to have a chance to play
major league baseball, "maybe
for a few years." If not, he
plans to work in a bank – as an
accountant, perhaps. Having
worked in a Philadelphia bank,
he says that he really enjoys it,
and plans to return this
summer, probably to work in
the accounting department.
"It's really interesting," he
explains, "getting out and
applying the things you've
been reading about in books all
year."

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Sroba Is Optimistic About The Upcoming Football S