MANCHESTER, NH – “If you build it, they will come.”
Pretty much anyone who loves baseball, knows the movie that classic quote came from...and, as strange as it may seem, that line may be the solution to the problem being experienced by the high school sports programs in Manchester.
For many years, the Queen City has been a hot-bed of athletic talent. Whether you lived on the east side, north end, south end, or west side, you were surrounded by talented athletes and the records of the three public high schools, Manchester Central, Manchester Memorial, and Manchester West showed it.
For instance:
- In the 1980s, our city high school teams appeared in the final game for their respective sports a total of 59 times, winning 36 championships.
- In the 1990s, the three Manchester public schools made a final game appearance 95 times and were victorious 59 times.
- During the 2000s, our high school teams contended for a title 65 times and came away with 37 championships.
That’s 218 final game appearances winning 132 titles.
But that was then and this is now.
As an 81 year-old retiree, my wife and I have spent much of our time doing what many grandparents do…we follow the sports our grandkids participate in and it is there that I have seen a dramatic change in the level of ability/competition demonstrated by Manchester’s athletes as they play against teams from other communities.
Bluntly put, for the past five years, the city’s high school teams have struggled to compete…and their records show the decline.
Though the three public high schools played for a title 39 times between 2010-2019, from 2020- 2024 NO Manchester team has reached the finals in any sport.
How bad has it become?
Using four major high school sports played in our city high schools, here are a few “stats” that may surprise you.
BASEBALL:
- Central last played for the championship in 2000.
- Memorial won it all 17 years ago (2006).
- West hasn’t played in the final since 1990 (34 years).
BOYS BASKETBALL:
- Central won it all in 2016
- Memorial’s last appearance was in 2009.
- West’s last championship encounter was in 1999.
GIRLS BASKETBALL:
- Central last played for the title in 2008.
- Memorial has never appeared in a final.
- West last appeared in 1999.
FOOTBALL:
- Central last played for the championship back in 2004.
- Memorial last appeared in the final in 1973.
- West has never played for the championship.
BOYS SOCCER:
- Central played for the title 6 years ago (2018).
- Memorial played in the title game 8 years ago (2016).
- West last played in 2002.
GIRLS SOCCER:
- Central played for the title in 2018.
- Memorial’s last play-off game appearance was in 1994.
- West appeared in the championship game in 2004.
Spreadsheet/Ted Menswar Jr.
Back in 2008, my favorite sports journalist, the Union Leader’s Joe Sullivan, in his Column As I See ‘Em article (July 8, 2008), listed the names of 110 Manchester coaches that he believed helped make the city one of the best sports communities in the country.
Unable to list them all, I drew names “out of the hat.”
Many residents will remember high school coaches like Jack Amero, Mike Fitzpatrick, Joe O’Neil, Don Van Uden, Ed Wade, and Frankie O’Donnell.
Additionally, Woody Stone, Ellen O’Neil, Hubie McDonough Jr., Stan Gorski, Peter Perich, Bob Chabot, and Wally Tafe Jr. , Jay Brewster, Doug Glance, Jim Morgan, Bob Kerrigan, Paul Lavigne, Diane Dryer, Frank Harlan, and Don Menswar.
As successful as their individual high school coaching careers have been, there is another reason for their success, one that can not and should not be over-looked.
I sincerely believe that the success enjoyed by the above coaches and their teams from Manchester’s three high schools was the result of a strong “feeder system.” Lower-level programs that had a strong Board Of Directors, had appropriate practice time with effective coaches who knew the sport well and taught it effectively to their players as players went from program to program. How many of these coaches’ names from the city’s feeder systems do you remember? Eddie Houle, Louis Basquil, Al Lemire, Bob Morneau, Marc Reicher, Ed Delaney, Jimmy Makris, George Gott, Angie Manni, and Sid Gilbert.
Colin Burke, Phil Sapienza, Don Beleski, Roger Polichronopoulos, Shawna Walega, Pat O’Neil, Chip Paquette, Mickey Hannigan, Dick Guilbert, and Ed Heiberg.
And that’s only the tip of the “youth divisions” coaching element. There were MANY more, too many to list, but if you knew any of the above coaches, you know how important they were!
Unfortunately, in recent years I’ve seen too many young athletes who haven’t learned the basics. Too many that are still having trouble after playing several years in their chosen sport. Hence, the difficult questions must follow…
- Is good coaching what’s missing?
- Is that why the feeder systems barely exist, if at all?
- Do we have skilled mentors who played the sport themselves…and were good at it?
- Has travel ball and AAU lured them away with the money they offer?
- Are too many parents willing to pay what can be extreme sums of money in the hopes that college scholarships will come from participation in these programs?
Maybe Manchester needs a generation of new “old” coaches like the ones who prepared young athletes for high school competition back in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
Ones who believe that…
“If you build it (a strong feeder system for the sport), they will come.” (players in large numbers).
Then again, as an old-timer, maybe I’m just looking back through my “Field of Dreams”…
Ted Menswar Jr. was born, brought up, educated, and played sports in Manchester. He is a retired educator, having taught 35 years as a member of the English Department at Memorial High School.