The Council Room

[Chris Gill]

I brought my 7 year old daughter to her first soccer practice on Saturday and while I was there I got to thinking about the old days playing at Wyanoke.

Sally plays on a beautifully cut and lined field unlike the topographically challenged, crab grass infested, crooked lined, “field” that we played on.

All the little girls had nice matching uniforms with cleats and shin guards. I think that some kids at Wyanoke might have had cleats but most of us played in our Keds. Shin guards? I can still remember the bruises 40 years later.

The girls all had nice, colorful, BPA free water bottles which they drank out of during regular breaks. We were lucky if someone brought a big aluminum pot up from the dining hall, we all shared the same ladle.

Finally the girls all had nice clean uniforms, we played skins and shirts and our games were after cookout so the shirts usually had catsup and mustard stains. The girls have nice fancy cones for drills, our coaches’ stuck sticks in the ground.

It is a testament to our sportsmanship that none of us complained about it although I do remember struggling on the uphill corner kicks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo
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1965-1975
C7,C8,J8,S4,S3

[Jim Culleton]

Great clip and reminder of the way things used to be, Chris! I do remember the cinder track at Wyanoke which could barely accommodate a 100 yard dash . . . . . . . . . no starting blocks, grid lines nor water bottles back then in comparison to what it was like running in H.S. and college. Actually I think that Wyanoke offered the 100 yard dash and broad jump during the 4th of July Track festivities each year. Don't remember if there was a high jump competition or not??

Anyway I was lucky enough to win the blue ribbon for the 100 yd. dash as a JA in '61. We hadn't converted to meters yet ! To say the least Don Badger and Richard "Goose" Tatum were strong competitors for sure that year.

Ah yes . . . . . . our track meets with DeWitt and others! We used Forest Road for the meets which were comprised of a 200 and maybe a 400 meter race . . . . . . . . and most of it was uphill running from the airport or Johnson's Cove up to camp. At least we were all under the same handicap

It was fun and my later experience into H.S. and college track was all due to having given it a "try" at Wyanoke . . . . as rudimentary as the conditions were back then!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jim
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'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor