Interscholastic sports in the seventh and eighth grades changed dramatically this year in the Clarkston schools. The long-standing rivalry between Sashabaw Middle School and Clarkston Middle School is officially over. SMS now houses the sixth and seventh graders and Clarkston Junior High School holds the eighth and ninth grades.
In last week’s edition of The Clarkston News (Nov. 9), the eighth grade sports programs were examined. While the time honored rivalry between Sashabaw Middle School and Clarkston Middle School was missed by some, the new found camaraderie between the blue and gold teams both on the football field and basketball field created a new culture in eighth grade sports.
By merging elements of practice and turning the annual crosstown rivalry game into a scrimmage between the blue and gold teams, the eighth grade football coaches? mission to unite CJHS under the Wolves flag was successful.
While the two eighth grade girls basketball teams played one another as part of their regular season schedule, coaches Kelly Avenall and Chris Rogers made sure the two teams cheered each other on at practice and in the hallways.
For the most part the seventh grade sports operated in the same way as the eighth grade. In both football and basketball the coaches divided the players up to make two equally talented teams without knowing which squad each individual would coach; a coin flip was the most popular random way of deciding coaching assignments.
One difference between the eighth and seventh grade sports programs though lies with the number of participants for football.
Between the two eighth grade teams there were 68 participants, just below Carpenter’s original expectation of 70-80 students.
At SMS, only 50 seventh graders, 25 per team, tried out for football.
‘It was challenging. We weren’t sure how the season was going to unfold,? SMS Football Coach Joe Palace said. ‘There was confusion in the community if we were going to have a team. We were steadfast that we were going to have two teams.?
In meetings prior to the end of school last June, Palace said nearly 80 sixth graders signed up to play this season. He feels a lack of contact over the summer vacation had something to do with the thinning of the ranks. Though he sent mailers home over the summer, Palace felt a ‘nasty rumor mill? was spinning.
‘They weren’t sure if we were having a team or if it was going to be intramural,? Palace said.
The SMS blue and gold teams both played interscholastic schedules. The gold team went 4-1 and the blue team went 1-4-1.
‘The kids ended up playing a lot of football,? Palace said. He expects more kids to sign up next year.
While the records of the two teams differed, Palace reported the same sort of camaraderie as seen on the eighth grade level.
‘I didn’t see any animosity between the two teams or the kids or within the school,? said Palace, who teaches physical education and health at SMS. ‘I saw it all first hand. They were supportive of one another.?
The problems the SMS football program had with attracting players were not duplicated on the girls basketball teams.
‘The girls have the same opportunity as before, (Having the two teams) worked better because we were able to run some practices together,? said Brett McCall, who teaches seventh grade science and coached the gold girls basketball team.
McCall, echoing the sentiments of Avenall, said the blue and gold teams might play twice next year. Avenall feels, especially looking towards winter sports like volleyball, that the blue and gold teams can help hone one another.
Both McCall and Palace feel that for SMS to have more of a sports identity, more games need to be played on site.
?(The blue and gold basketball teams) each only had one game in our building, but the attendance was good for them,? McCall said.
Palace would like to see a football field at SMS built in the next few years.