Remembering a half century of sports
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
It was 1961. John Kennedy was President, Robert Meyner was Governor of New Jersey.
The Oscar for best picture went to The Apartment, the Emmy for best actor went to Raymond
Burr in Perry Mason and the Tony Award winner for best musical was Bye Bye Birdie.
The record of the year was Theme from A Summer Place, the Yankees won the World Series
(led by new home run king Roger Maris), the Celtics won the NBA title and the Black Hawks
were NHL champions. Not too many people in this area cared about that hockey title because
the Flyers would not exist for six more years.
In 1961, a first class stamp was four cents, a half-gallon of milk was 52 cents and the unemployment
rate was 5.5 percent.
That was what it was like when my byline first appeared on a newspaper story. It is hard to
believe a half-century has gone by.
At Ocean City High School, Andy Prohaska was the football coach, Dixie Howell coached basketball
and baseball and Fenton Carey was the swimming and track coach. That was it. No sports for girls
and only one sport in the fall.
The football, track and baseball teams played on the same fields that today’s teams call home. The
basketball and swimming teams competed in the old high school building. The OCHS pool was
shorter than the standard pool so two series of records were compiled. And the basketball gym
had bleachers at each end but none along the sides.
Jack Jones, a neighbor and a teacher in Somers Point, was writing local sports in Ocean City when
he got a job at a New England school and had to move. He suggested I apply for the job since I had
been submitting short stories for a few years about youth teams I was coaching.
It was the beginning of a great ride.
The CAL consisted of six teams in 1961 – now it has 22 schools. In between, there were teams
coming and going and the big merger in 1982 with the South Jersey Conference.
For 50 years, five decades, half a century, this job has given me one of the best seats in the house
for some remarkable moments in Ocean City and Cape-Atlantic League sports history. Three years
after starting there was that day in what is now called Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City when Ocean City,
Wildwood and Wildwood Catholic basketball teams all reached the state championships. Those teams
were led by three of the top coaches in CAL hoop history – Dixie, Wildwood’s Bernie McCracken
and Frank MacAlarnen of Wildwood Catholic.
There are so many more moments that have come in the decades since those teams played for state
championships on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
In Ocean City, the fundamental strength of Mike Slaveski in building an approach to football that would
impact five coaches who would follow him over 35 years. Two of them – Ed Woolley and Gary
Degenhardt – were quite different but both won championships. Woolley is a flamboyant man who earned
a PhD and became a school administrator. Degenhardt is rather soft-spoken and very careful not to say
a bad word about anybody.
There was the intensity of Pat Dougherty as she built a girls basketball program that would not only be
a success at Ocean City High School, but would drive the programs at other CAL schools to move ahead
so that they could compete.
Jack Boyd, who followed Dixie as basketball coach, had his own successes and followed Dixie and
Dougherty into the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame. Boyd is the definition of a people person with
a personality that can stimulate the conversation in any atmosphere.
Ted Klepac and Wayne Colman were two coaches who followed Fenton Carey in track and kept the
program at the same high level, developing some outstanding athletes in the process.And the latest
OCHS basketball coaches – John Bruno and Paul Baruffi – have advanced their programs
even as the competition has become tougher and tougher. And they both bring great energy to the
sidelines and great concern for their players.
Phil Birnbaum and Wendy Nickles also developed a reputation in tennis for Ocean City that George
McNally and Samantha Newgas have expanded.
And Mike Pellegrino took a good boys soccer program and turned it into a dynasty, winning state
championships and the South Jersey Coaches Tournament with some regularity.
OCHS also had two of the finest and most successful coaches you could want – Mike Naples and
Trish LeFever. Naples kept Ocean City at the top of the list in both girls cross country and girls track.
His overnight trips with his track teams to New Brunswick for the state meets and his incredible
calculations about how a meet might turn out were memorable. And LeFever started a program and
built it into one of New Jersey’s finest in field hockey, consistently winning South Jersey championships,
dominating the CAL and sending dozens and dozens of players to major college programs. Just last
weekend, three of them were involved in the NCAA Final Four.
It is a rewarding to see so many former OCHS athletes return to coach at their alma mater. Right now
Cory Terry in field hockey, Trish Henry in girls cross country and Aaron Bogushefsky in boys soccer
all just completed championship seasons. And Brittany Sedberry starts her first season as girls swimming
coach.
Of course, all of these great coaches were brought together by two people – Paul LeFever and Chris
Lentz. LeFever was one of the very best athletics administrators in South Jersey, not only building the
programs but making the successful transition to the new school. Lentz, a successful basketball coach
at OCHS herself, has continued to bring together the quality people who make a sports program successful.
But there are so many more coaches throughout the CAL who were a pleasure to watch and deal
with. There was Bill Deibert, Nuncie Sacco, Dave Troiano, Bill Nickles, Tom Feraco, Sal Paone, Joe Mohr,
Fred Haack, Bill Garrison, Karl Geisinger, Joe Fussner, Leo Chase, John Leahy, Sam Botta, Wayne
Colman, Bob Coffey, Chuck Dougherty, Jim Mogan, Tony DeRosa, Bud Rinck, Fran St. John, Jim Schafer,
Tony Galante, Bob Weiss, Champ McGaffney, Gene Barber, Tony Galante, Ken Leary, Roy Wright, Doug
Colman, Bill Moreland, Larry DiGiovanni, Gary Schultz, Skip Angelo, Joe Bimbo, Gary Hegh, Stan Marczyk,
John Roberson, Craig Mensinger, John Boyd, Paul Rodio, Ralph Carson, Dave DeWeese, George McNally,
Chuck Smith, Pat Holden, Matt Purdue, Chuck Donohue, Laurie Carter, Gary Barber, Roland Watson,
Bill Manlove, Janice Mott, Dave Pfeiffer, Whitey Haak, Gene Allen, Greg Goodwin, Dave Lewis, Tom Bostic –
it’s always a mistake to start making these lists, because there is never enough space for everybody.
Of course, all of these great coaches were brought together by athletics directors – and there have been
some significant ones. People like LeFever, Ed Byrnes, Frank Campo, Nuncie Sacco, George Evinski, Art Marinelli,
Dave Bennett, Leo Keating, Tony Surace, Joe Clements, Mike Gatley, Don Robbins and Jay Connell are
some of the ADs who have made CAL athletics programs successful.
There are also people like Chris Armstrong, whom we saw go from an athlete at OCHS, to an Ocean City
coach, to a Wildwood administrator. And the opportunity to work with people like Brian Cunniff, Rick Travers,
Scott Wahl, Rob Seitzinger, Frank Basile, Charlie Wood and Buddy Tarbotton, among others.
Trying to list all the outstanding athletes who have performed during the last 50 years would be impossible.
We saw Chris Ford and Fred Dalzell play for Holy Spirit and Isaiah Morton play for The Prep. We saw Stedman Graham
play for Middle, long before he met Oprah. We saw George Landis play for Mainland and Alquann Jones
for Millville. There were Reggie Miller, Tara Booker, Dave Andrews, Bill Osborn, Shea Matlock, Kevin Sinclair,
Al Corchiani, Al Mallen, Bill Fisher, Randy Beverly, Doug Strang, Valeria Jones, Meredith Campbell, Edgar
Allen, Scott Lipford, Skip Castaldi, Earl Tarves, LaMarr Greer, Willie Glass, Faye Gerald, Teresa Polini,
Lisa Foglio, Bill Blann, John Cranston, Matt Szczur, Kevin Hallman, Jason Feinberg, Harry Hayward,
John Richardson, Rob Higbee, Jeanne Mohr, Ernie Troiano, Walt Montford, Cindy Rau, Lou Roe, Greg Buttle,
Rick Harmon, Frank Moore, Doug Colman, Dan Leahy, Rick Harmon, Darren Drozdov, Phil Schaffer,
Charlie Wise, Joe Wilkens, both Jim Coopers, Joi Johnson, Monica Johnson, Mike Brestle, Dino Hall,
Pat Lynch, Charlie Wise, Steve Parker, J.D. Asselta, the Marczyk brothers, Monica Johnson, Rich Benner,
Frank Vogel, Dan Merrifield, Don Barton and John Leahy.
Plus, Jack Neall, Anthony Raffa, Chris Rackley, Tony Davenport, Stephanie Vanderslice, both Len Burrells,
Mike Linahan, Matt Dicken, Terence Ward, Cory Picketts, Birdie McNeal, Pam Elliott, Charlie Mumford,
Pat McCabe, Karen Shutz, Diane Snow, Joe Weiss, Chuck James, Ed Paone, Mike Isgro, Chad Severs,
John Stone, Mary Gavin, John Huff, Dave Klemic, Shelley Solheim, Jack Corcoran, Jeff Michner, Mike Trout,
Kellie Adams, Angie Tecco, Bob McAllister, Tejay Johnson, Kellie Adams, Chris Curran, Sara Mostafa, Leon Brown,
Mary Wilks, Brett Johnson, Gil Ferrari, Tasha Cannon, Trey Severs, Dennis Horner, Brittany Sedberry,
Tory Cavalieri, Mike Rowell, Jen Frank, John Burch, Derrick Yeoman, Miles Schoedler, Joe Myers, among
many others – you can see what an incredible task it would be to list them all in 1600 words.
But the most interesting thing is this. With all the great games, tremendous coaching and outstanding
performances that have taken place in the Cape-Atlantic League since 1961, right now the thoughts that are
foremost include how the Ocean City PBA Tipoff Weekend and the Battle By The Bay will turn out; what kind
of football careers Chris Gabor, Nick Zauck, Keenan Jackson and Matt Schuler will have before they graduate;
will St. Augustine and Middle Township’s boys and Ocean City’s girls win another South Jersey basketball title;
and how the new CAL basketball playoffs will work out.
That’s the great thing about high school sports. It just keeps moving along.
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