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Alma Maters: The Reporting of High School Sports Before 1920 |
1. Football. Prior to 1920, football had not yet been crowned as the dominant local high school sport. However, important rivalries had developed between schools in the Calumet region. Big games between the Hammond and Gary schools drew as many as 2,500 fans. But the high school football seasons lacked a consistent structure. Schools did not play a regular conference schedule, and the number of players on each team was quite small. In search of competition, Calumet region schools often competed against football teams from Chicago and South Bend. They even played against athletic associations comprised of players who did not attend high school.
2. Basketball. Each year, as the basketball season approached, The Lake County Times predicted which high school team would be the best in Lake County. But during the season, the paper reported very little about the games other than the scores. Many teams played fewer than ten games a season. The games included contests against local athletic associations, factory teams, the YMCA, alumni, and faculty. As January approached, the teams prepared for the sectional tournament. No team dominated the region. Smaller schools such as Valparaiso and Lowell often defeated the larger urban schools in Hammond and Gary.
3. Baseball. The national pastime was the most popular sport in the Calumet Region. During the summer, large numbers of boys and men played for athletic associations, church groups, town teams, and in the industrial leagues. These games were often very competitive. Despite the popularity of the game, spring high baseball never generated the attention devoted to football or basketball. Baseball remained a sport played primarily in well organized programs outside the confines of high schools and formal education. No championship existed for the best high school baseball team in the region.
4. Track and Field. Track and field coverage was sporadic and inconsistent. The sport lacked regularly scheduled events between competing schools. Consequently, track and field usually did not attract large crowds of spectators willing to pay to see events. However, each year, the schools in Northern Indiana sponsored a meet that brought together the best athletes from across the region. Schools recorded the best times for the various events. The success of major events such as the county wide track meets encouraged the development of conferences with regularly scheduled contests between the various high schools scattered across the region.
