After seeing my School's Football team get crushed by our rival yesterday, I figured I would make a thread about high school sports teams, past or present.
My high school is probably the worst in the district (of five high schools) overall when it comes to sports. We are decent at sports no one cares about (like cross-country and golf), but when it comes to sports people do care about (Football and Basketball) then... Yeah, you get the point.
I run on my school's Cross Country team, on JV. I won't be on Varsity until at least junior year.
My high school made it to the state finals several years in a row but always ended up losing to the same charter school. The basketball team won the girls state title one year but the boys team was terrible. I hardly payed attention since I played a little bit of club hockey.
I like to watch basketball games and play basketball. It's been a while since I did that, I'm a senior now, I wish i can!
We really didn't care. Never saw a match and I don't think parents of those playing were too bothered with school sports. It's a cultural thing - we Brits care somewhat about school sports, but we don't spectate.
And it's not like we didn't have talent or success at my school - we had loads of people/teams who won stuff while representing the school (and more so representing themselves or a club) - it's just that it got no more recognition than an announcement in one assembly, a mention in newsletters and brochures, and that's about it. Oh, in the last two years, they could get colours (also for music/debating/etc) and wear a different tie.
And losing a national tennis quarter/semi final to Andy Murray as two of my yeargroup did wasn't even worth that - it was only as my classmates and I had the conversation with the one in our class: "oh your back from your 4 day tennis tournament - how did it go?" "OK, I got to the quarter finals and lost to a 12 year old. Spoons lost to him in the semi. The kid's amazing, and won the whole thing easy - he should have been playing another year group older, not just one, and he would have won" "Oh, OK, we were going to laugh at you for losing to a kid a year younger than us. Well done. Here's all the homework you have to catch up on!"
They did, a few years ago, take the whole school to Twickenham to see the Rugby team win the national schools title - but that's one game in 20 years actually watched by more than single figures (including countless county/regional* league and cup titles). Holding the match in a massive stadium and giving free tickets (I doubt any school-level stuff would charge) for the whole school helped a lot, otherwise only the team would have gone - perhaps watched by their parents given that it's actually a national final even though it's only a school's match (they'd watch club matches, as they are paying for their kid to be there).
The only time we watched by anything other than our fellow participants in the activity and a member of the PE staff was the annual Sports Day (an afternoon). We had nominal teams based on our homeroom classes (which we had all our classes in while still the US-equivalent of Middle School, even though it was High School in the UK), but we didn't care much for them. The main reason why we watched events we weren't taking part in (which might be all of them) was to cheer our friends, and to stem the boredom of the whole thing. It was all athletics. I did the 1500m, having drawn the short straw and being picked on - everyone knew I was terrible, but I was at least going to try and wouldn't put up a fight to avoid doing it. I didn't get lapped by the national Cross Country champion, and I beat someone a year older than me - that counts as exceeding expectations. Sports Day was much more competitive and fun at Elementary school when it was all stuff like sack races, egg and spoon and the like, and teams were just as arbitrary, but we knew the other teams' members well.
*which is more populous than Wyoming/New Jersey respectively, so both not dissimilar to state trophies.
My high school was the one that had a very "Hollywoodized" movie made about its 1972 football team, which was the year after I graduated, that is how I know how much the movie was fictionalized.
My high school's football team hasn't lost a game in about 4 years. When I played there 25+ years ago, we were decent, but we lost a few games. We did win a regional championship in my senior year. A couple of alumni have played in the NFL and CFL, but no major superstars.
Quote from: Beltway on August 31, 2019, 08:45:48 PM
My high school was the one that had a very "Hollywoodized" movie made about its 1972 football team, which was the year after I graduated, that is how I know how much the movie was fictionalized.
Did you go to T. C. Williams? :D
Quote from: amroad17 on August 31, 2019, 09:49:37 PM
Quote from: Beltway on August 31, 2019, 08:45:48 PM
My high school was the one that had a very "Hollywoodized" movie made about its 1972 [late 1971] football team, which was the year after I graduated, that is how I know how much the movie was fictionalized.
Did you go to T. C. Williams? :D
Yes, and this cite about the movie is nonsense --
"In 1971, the Alexandria City School Board's decision to swiftly integrate the two upper grades of the two all-white high schools with the one all-black T. C. Williams happened amid racial unrest, riots and more subtle discomfort."
The city had 3 high schools, and the African-American percentages in the June 1971 graduation was, Hammond about 5%, George Washington about 35%, and T. C. Williams about 15%.
The movie building was cast somewhere in rural Georgia and the people had deep southern accents.
If fact all three high schools were very "preppy" as could be expected in suburban Washington, D.C. even in the 1970s, and large, about 2,000 students each.
One of the local nicknames for T. C. Williams then was "the county club on King Street".
This quote is true --
"That year, ACPS consolidated its three four-year high schools into a single two-year school, teaching solely juniors and seniors. As a result, the best of the varsity football squads at George Washington High School (converted to a middle school), Hammond High School (converted to a middle school) and T. C. Williams High School united in what amounted to an all-city, all-star team at T. C. Williams. "
Why they won the state high school football championship in 1971 is no more complicated than that. All 11th and 12th graders of 3 high schools in a city of 110 thousand population consolidated into one school, that being T. C. Williams.
As far as what -really- happened that year? I wasn't there and with all the hearsay, who knows what really happened? But I do know the movie was a bunch of baloney.
FYI, my schooling grades 1 thru 10 was in Brevard County, Fla. Just the last 2 years in Alexandria.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 31, 2019, 09:31:40 PM
My high school's football team hasn't lost a game in about 4 years. When I played there 25+ years ago, we were decent, but we lost a few games. We did win a regional championship in my senior year. A couple of alumni have played in the NFL and CFL, but no major superstars.
Meanwhile we have a thirty game losing streak.
Quote from: Beltway on August 31, 2019, 10:17:20 PM
Quote from: amroad17 on August 31, 2019, 09:49:37 PM
Quote from: Beltway on August 31, 2019, 08:45:48 PM
My high school was the one that had a very "Hollywoodized" movie made about its 1972 [late 1971] football team, which was the year after I graduated, that is how I know how much the movie was fictionalized.
Did you go to T. C. Williams? :D
Yes, and this cite about the movie is nonsense --
"In 1971, the Alexandria City School Board's decision to swiftly integrate the two upper grades of the two all-white high schools with the one all-black T. C. Williams happened amid racial unrest, riots and more subtle discomfort."
The city had 3 high schools, and the African-American percentages in the June 1971 graduation was, Hammond about 5%, George Washington about 35%, and T. C. Williams about 15%.
The movie building was cast somewhere in rural Georgia and the people had deep southern accents.
If fact all three high schools were very "preppy" as could be expected in suburban Washington, D.C. even in the 1970s, and large, about 2,000 students each.
One of the local nicknames for T. C. Williams then was "the county club on King Street".
This quote is true --
"That year, ACPS consolidated its three four-year high schools into a single two-year school, teaching solely juniors and seniors. As a result, the best of the varsity football squads at George Washington High School (converted to a middle school), Hammond High School (converted to a middle school) and T. C. Williams High School united in what amounted to an all-city, all-star team at T. C. Williams. "
Why they won the state high school football championship in 1971 is no more complicated than that. All 11th and 12th graders of 3 high schools in a city of 110 thousand population consolidated into one school, that being T. C. Williams.
As far as what -really- happened that year? I wasn't there and with all the hearsay, who knows what really happened? But I do know the movie was a bunch of baloney.
FYI, my schooling grades 1 thru 10 was in Brevard County, Fla. Just the last 2 years in Alexandria.
I see you are using your favorite word--BALONEY!!! :-D
Anyway, the movie made it seem as if T.C. Williams was a "deep south" school instead of one fairly close to Washington, DC. The schools in Alexandria were somewhat segregated in the 1960's. I also read where the progression of games in the movie did not match the actual schedule--especially the Virginia State Championship Game which T.C. Williams won handily, 27-0. The movie had T.C. Williams play Marshall in the championship game, when, in fact, they played sometime in the middle of the season--which T.C. Williams won on a last second 4th down play, just like in the movie.
Of course, if most movies were made exactly to real life, a large majority would be a boring 100-130 minutes of our lives we would not get back. According to movie makers, we have to have "poetic license", we have to have conflict!
So, are you a native Floridian?
Quote from: amroad17 on August 31, 2019, 11:01:09 PM
Anyway, the movie made it seem as if T.C. Williams was a "deep south" school instead of one fairly close to Washington, DC. The schools in Alexandria were somewhat segregated in the 1960's. I also read where the progression of games in the movie did not match the actual schedule--especially the Virginia State Championship Game which T.C. Williams won handily, 27-0. The movie had T.C. Williams play Marshall in the championship game, when, in fact, they played sometime in the middle of the season--which T.C. Williams won on a last second 4th down play, just like in the movie.
Of course, if most movies were made exactly to real life, a large majority would be a boring 100-130 minutes of our lives we would not get back. According to movie makers, we have to have "poetic license", we have to have conflict!
So, are you a native Floridian?
No, Illinois, Chicago. I think that "poetic license" is fine, many movies about historical events may "jazz things up" somewhat, but they shouldn't make them out of whole cloth. I was there in the school, and knew enough about the other 2 schools that I would not call them "somewhat segregated" in the 1969-71 that I was there, maybe Hammond at only 5% African-American but the movie wasn't about that school, and that percentage about matched the western part of Alexandria where that school is located.
I thought it was rather artificial to move all the 11th and 12th graders from 3 schools into one school for the sake of demographic balances. That school happened to geographically be in the central part of the city.
FYI, today the demographics are very different --
Two campuses comprise T.C. Williams. The Minnie Howard Campus is home to ninth grade students, who participate in daily classes, sports, and extracurricular activities on the King Street Campus. The King Street Campus is home to students in grades 10 through 12.
T. C. Williams Data
Demographics
Enrollment (as of 11/2018):
2,803 students (grades 10-12)
1,156 students (grade 9)
African American: 28.2%
Asian: 4.5%
Hispanic: 40.8%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.2%
White: 24.1%
Multi-racial: 1.9%
Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.3%
School Faculty
Number of Licensed Staff: 199
With post-graduate degrees: 76%
https://www.acps.k12.va.us/domain/1150
^ The largest traditional High School in Virginia now.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 31, 2019, 10:23:18 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 31, 2019, 09:31:40 PM
My high school's football team hasn't lost a game in about 4 years. When I played there 25+ years ago, we were decent, but we lost a few games. We did win a regional championship in my senior year. A couple of alumni have played in the NFL and CFL, but no major superstars.
Meanwhile we have a thirty game losing streak.
I wouldn't have thought you were from my hometown with that username :-D
My high school's ultimate frisbee team won the UPA National Championship.
Of course, this was in the early 1990s... :D
Quote from: thspfc on September 01, 2019, 08:04:34 AM
I do play a high school soccer. We had three matches last week, won one and lost two.
I always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PMI always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
granted, toddlers struggle with "no hands", but seriously "complicated"? Sure the finer points might be difficult, but there's a reason it's played by young children all over the world unlike most other sports - it's pretty simple to get the basics!
Quote from: english si on September 01, 2019, 03:49:24 PM
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PMI always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
granted, toddlers struggle with "no hands", but seriously "complicated"? Sure the finer points might be difficult, but there's a reason it's played by young children all over the world unlike most other sports - it's pretty simple to get the basics!
The official rules for association football also take quite a lot fewer pages than baseball, basketball, American football, and hockey.
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PM
Quote from: thspfc on September 01, 2019, 08:04:34 AM
I do play a high school soccer. We had three matches last week, won one and lost two.
I always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
I am sorry to hear that . . . ?
I was on the quiz bowl team in high school. We made it to the state tournament all three years I was on varsity.
Last year, the football team won its first conference title since 1972 and went undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 1961 (although they lost in their first playoff game). It's a far cry from the 33 game losing streak they had when my older sister was in high school. This year, they won their first game and should likely make the playoffs again.
Boys basketball is a joke. They haven't had a winning record since 2006-07 (when they made a run to the state quarterfinals only to lose to a public school that had been caught recruiting athletes) and have struggled with numbers in recent years (barely having enough for two teams [JV and varsity] in some years). Last season, they won two games, but both wins were before Christmas break and a starter was kicked off the team over break for academic reasons.
Girls basketball was dominant in the 1980s and 1990s, but have been average since, with some good years as recent as 2013-16 (that three season stretch included three 20+ win seasons, three district titles, and two regional titles)
If non-physical competitions count, my High School is second in the nation in Speech & Debate. That being said I am not on the S&D team.
My high school has been dominant during the regular season the past few years, but they can't seem to finish. 2 years ago we made the super-sectionals but lost, and last year we lost the state final. Maybe 3rd times the charm? They're 1-0 so far
Quote from: ozarkman417 on September 02, 2019, 06:05:26 PM
If non-physical competitions count, my High School is second in the nation in Speech & Debate. That being said I am not on the S&D team.
Where can you find the ranking for that?
Quote from: Rothman on September 04, 2019, 03:58:35 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on September 02, 2019, 06:05:26 PM
If non-physical competitions count, my High School is second in the nation in Speech & Debate. That being said I am not on the S&D team.
Where can you find the ranking for that?
https://www.speechanddebate.org/rankings/ (https://www.speechanddebate.org/rankings/)
Quote from: thspfc on September 02, 2019, 07:43:52 AM
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PM
Quote from: thspfc on September 01, 2019, 08:04:34 AM
I do play a high school soccer. We had three matches last week, won one and lost two.
I always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
I am sorry to hear that . . . ?
Could play goalkeeper--I did my senior year in high school (1980). First year we had soccer in the Southeastern District in the Hampton Roads, VA area.
HS Bands in a Quad state area (MO, KS, OK, & AR) participate in a marching band festival in October, but my HS is one of the only schools that don't participate. All performances revolve around a theme, so it's cool to see their unique ideas & coordination.
My school's football team just lost 42-0 to Natick :banghead:.
Quote from: 1 on September 01, 2019, 04:42:46 PM
Quote from: english si on September 01, 2019, 03:49:24 PM
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PMI always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
granted, toddlers struggle with "no hands", but seriously "complicated"? Sure the finer points might be difficult, but there's a reason it's played by young children all over the world unlike most other sports - it's pretty simple to get the basics!
The official rules for association football also take quite a lot fewer pages than baseball, basketball, American football, and hockey.
Isn't the FIFA rulebook it something like a 16 page pamphlet, complete with diagrams and some 'case law' decisions on those rules? That is the ultimate in simplicity and allows a wide latitude for players to develop their own styles and strengths.
The baseball and NFL rulebooks, OTOH.... :-o
BTW, in most of the World outside of North America, schools are for academic things only, while if one wants to play sports beyond minor intramural stuff, he or she joins a local private sports club. Those sports clubs then compete against other local sports clubs, representing their local communities, in the various sports and age levels - all the way up to the very top. Yes, those big-name overseas football clubs (ie, Manchester United, Bayern München, Real Madrid, Juventus, etc) are all local private sports clubs just like any of the others.
Mike
With soccer, I know firsthand that the upper levels of club soccer in the USA often feature more skilled players than HS soccer. Part of that is because players are able to switch clubs freely as they choose. Switching schools is not so straightforward. In fact, the DA soccer clubs (the best of the best of the best) don't allow their players to play for their schools.
Just over a year ago (2018-08-17), the Fond du Lac, WI Cardinals defeated the Kimberly, WI Papermakers 31-28. That was Kimberly's first loss in 71 games, a Wisconsin state record and the 13th longest ever high school football winning streak nationwide. Kimberly is immediately east of Appleton, WI, with the two sharing a common border.
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2018/08/17/wisconsin-high-school-football-kimberly-fond-du-lac-wiaa-winning-streak/1025508002/
:-o
Mike
Quote from: mgk920 on September 08, 2019, 12:13:12 PMBTW, in most of the World outside of North America, schools are for academic things only
There's minor intermural (between schools) and intramural (within schools) competitions for sports, but basically yes. Music and Drama tend to be a bit more even where outside clubs don't dominate school clubs as much.
Same for college/uni. There are exceptions, but Hogwarts caring a big deal about intramural Quidditch is not a common experience in British academia - I believe Rowling has said that it mostly exists because Hogwarts is modelled after British public schools (ie really posh selective private schools), and it is there where you find school sports being treated as something worth bothering with if you aren't in the squad.
Quote from: thspfc on September 02, 2019, 07:43:52 AM
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PM
Quote from: thspfc on September 01, 2019, 08:04:34 AM
I do play a high school soccer. We had three matches last week, won one and lost two.
I always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
I am sorry to hear that . . . ?
Yeah, I just don't play soccer. I only like basketball and i play some football too.
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 08, 2019, 06:03:15 PM
Quote from: thspfc on September 02, 2019, 07:43:52 AM
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PM
Quote from: thspfc on September 01, 2019, 08:04:34 AM
I do play a high school soccer. We had three matches last week, won one and lost two.
I always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
I am sorry to hear that . . . ?
Yeah, I just don't play soccer. I only like basketball and i play some football too.
Basketball is a good sport. It's what I would play if I had been more athletic when I was small, but since I was a potato, I resorted to picking on kids playing in-house rec soccer. I guess I was drawn to soccer and now I play it competitively 24/7.
I'm definitely happy for Frenchtown (MT) to get a big dub (W) beating Butte Central High School. They're no slackers in Class A football, I can tell you that much. After multiple Class B championships, they moved to Class A in 2003, took home back to back division titles, made it to the 2006 championship but got snake bit by Beaverhead County of Dillon, MT 21-20, and a few years later in 2009, they finally took the hardware taking down Billings Central, one of the toughest city schools in Yellowstone County next to Billings Skyview and Billings West, both Class AA powerhouses.
Quote from: thspfc on September 08, 2019, 07:21:46 PM
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 08, 2019, 06:03:15 PM
Quote from: thspfc on September 02, 2019, 07:43:52 AM
Quote from: mrhappy1261 on September 01, 2019, 12:54:48 PM
Quote from: thspfc on September 01, 2019, 08:04:34 AM
I do play a high school soccer. We had three matches last week, won one and lost two.
I always hated soccer. I can't use my hands just in case I want to move the ball, it's too complicated. Not my sport for me.
I am sorry to hear that . . . ?
Yeah, I just don't play soccer. I only like basketball and i play some football too.
Basketball is a good sport. It's what I would play if I had been more athletic when I was small, but since I was a potato, I resorted to picking on kids playing in-house rec soccer. I guess I was drawn to soccer and now I play it competitively 24/7.
I played neighborhood rec league basketball, soccer, and baseball at various times growing up. I enjoyed them for the most part but didn't really have an interest in playing those at any competitive level. Baseball I stopped when I aged out of machine pitch and into the kid-pitch league. I enjoyed soccer but quit that around age 12, where the rec league stopped, and I think I played basketball through 8th grade.
I probably could have played basketball in high school, but I wound up playing golf instead. Completely different game. Since then I haven't played any organized sports other than college intramurals.
My first cross country meet was a total bust :banghead: I got a 16:43 two mile when my record is 14:07. The fastest varsity runner ran a 16:00 5k approximately.
*(B)ump*
At the beginning of this semester it was announced that all high schools in my district will be receiving "E-SPORTS" teams in co-operation with Contender E-Sports (https://contenderesports.com/). This means students can play video games competitively against other schools (and possibly win scholarships) as if it were any other sport, there are even Varsity and Junior Varsity divisions. Unfortunately, the selection of games that will be played is rather limited. Some include: Smash Bros, Rocket League, Fortnite, and Apex Legends. I've been told out of all the schools in the district, mine has the most top ranked Smash Bros players, but I will not be partaking in this I am generally bad at video games.
Two of our smallest schools, the Pacific Pirates and the Powers Cruisers, had such low numbers for girls' basketball, that they combined to make one squad. The name of the team is the Cruisin' Pirates.
Oregon also has a case of where two small schools merged and wound up bringing in both monikers. Ever hear of a team called the Tiger-Scots? Truth is stranger than fiction!
Rick
My high school alma mater name: the Aztecs based in the Palm Springs area CA (the Southwest US not far from Mexico) has played local teams with names like Rajahs (Indio, close to the country name India) and Arabs (desert location and date palm groves), also Blackhawks (like the NHL team in Chicago), Lions (no known minor baseball team has that name) and Indians (the indigenous Cahuilla approve the mascot name). 3 new high schools near me have the (Silver) Knights, (Golden) Eagles and very plain Rams. They make up the Desert Valley League aka "The D-ten" and now "D-dozen" when you include 4 other high schools (now that's 13, though my local news source said the high school where the Golden Eagles are may close due to poor academic performance) with names like Bears, Tigers, Trojans and Wildcats. The newest high school near me is the Rattlers, so there should be 14, split into two 7-team divisions.