It doesn’t seem that long ago when I coached boys’ high school basketball at Saratoga Springs High School. It was during the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, so I guess it was some time ago!
Here’s what I’ve noticed in comparison to those past three decades. The crowds are not even close in attendance and the school spirit is foggy from existence.
The Saratoga High class reunions of 1979 and 1980 are combining their 35-year celebrations, and with that it promises to bring a resurgence of school spirit. An alumni basketball game has evolved, as part of the planning of this weekend.
The class of 1979 against the class of 1980, and the mothballs are rolling, as Rich Johns and I have been recruited to be opposing coaches.
It’s happening on June 13. That’s tonight at the high school gym. The ceremony begins at 4:30 p.m. with the game to follow. These “kids” still have a spirit that flows like a “Blue Streak” through their veins.
I was the varsity basketball coach for both of these classes, and over that two-year period the two teams only lost seven or eight games. There was a Foothills Championship, with the advancement into the final four of the Section II AA playoffs.
But, this story isn’t about winning games. It’s about school spirit and the pride that comes with it. The home basketball games were played in the current old gym of the renovated high school complex and the home football games were at the Eastside Recreation Field, with the same venue for baseball. Wrestling was set up in the high school gym the day of a match, eventually moving into the former junior high gym (now the cafeteria).
Attendance, for all of the events, was amazing and very spirited. During basketball games, the SSHS pep-band warmed up the crowd, and in the old gym the band would squeeze up onto a narrow loft behind the north side basket, which was across and parallel to a larger loft behind the south side goal, and that loft had roll-in bleachers where many of the students sat.
The pep-band was fantastic, as it fired up the crowd from across the way, but if you weren’t at the gym by halftime of the JV game, you would not be allowed into the game— state safety regulations. That was the scenario for every home game.
When scheduling non-league games, Mr. Waldron and I would make sure we were competitive, outside of our league, the Foothills, by scheduling non-leaguers with the now defunct Class A League and Diocesan League.
Eventually, around the end of the 1970s, the two leagues merged and a birth evolved that was called the Big Ten. There were games that are still in the memories of some of those great Saratoga fans! Back then, when we traveled, we usually had one or two spectator buses follow the players’ bus, which was not only filled with the players, but it also transported the cheerleaders who went to every game.
Will those days ever return? Saratoga Springs City School District has a beautiful new gymnasium, one that holds just over 2,000 spectators, and the old gym had a capacity of just over a 1,000. The crowds in the old gym were usually between 1,300-1,500 fans, to give you an idea of an overflow crowd. All four doorways that led into the gym were literally bulging with spectators.
There were times when we didn’t have enough room for the players on the bench. The noise was deafening, the temperature inside was usually in the lower to mid-80s and the student support was overwhelming.
They loved their Blue Streaks. I can vouch for that because I was carried off the floor numerous times by the students. It was an unbelievable experience. There were moments and games that I will never forget, and frankly, I don’t want to.
This alumni game and reunion will rekindle some of that school spirit of old. These two classes were always supportive of their teams. I will bet, if these people had a blood test, the color of red hemoglobin will be as blue as the Blue Streaks of yesterday.
This stuff comes from storybooks about sports that movies are made from, like the movie "Hoosiers.”
Welcome back, to the members of the classes of 1979 and 1980. They are part of an archive that defines the true meaning of school spirit, as a Blue Streak legacy is reborn!
