Troy High sports then & now, part 1

While classes don't start for another week, the 2019-20 high school sports season has already begun.

Today, we're starting a three-part series on Troy High's athletic programs, illustrating the differences in the school's fortunes between the time ye scribe was a student there (1979-81) and today. With the fall season having started, it's our focus in part 1. Part 2 covers winter sports, and will be presented in late November or early December, right before the start of basketball season. Part 3 will be in either March or April.

So where do we start? How about soccer?

Back in the day, Troy's boys' soccer team was among the top teams in the now-defunct Big 10 conference. In 1980, the Flying Horses posted a 11-5-2 overall record, but for reasons known only to school officials, the team opted against taking part in the sectionals. As I am looking at the 1980 record from my yearbook, it seems that not all of the schools in the Big 10 had a soccer program, and so Troy played a number of non-league games, including sweeping Lansingburgh (Colonial Council) in a home & home series. Coach Charles Boland retired following the season.

Today, seven years removed from a Section II title, current coach Mike Murnane is coming off a 0-15-2 campaign in 2018. The season began today with a non-league game at Hudson Falls, but as of press time the score had not yet been reported to the press, even though the game ended nearly 5 1/2 hours ago.

I do not know if the girls' soccer team has ever had a winning record. The 1980 squad won just two games, finishing 2-8. Last year's club won three, and the 2019 edition has a rough road to hoe when their season begins next week, including a non-league tournament September 7-8.

The women's tennis team shared the Big 10 title in 1980 with Linton at 8-3. Today, the Lady Horses would be happy to actually win a match. Tennis results don't always appear in the papers with any consistency these days due to a lack of resources. What I do know is that Troy has struggled in tennis, both for men & women, since entering the Suburban Council in 2015. The Troy women lost their opener, 9-0, to Bethlehem on Wednesday.

Troy's golf team is now co-ed, but that wasn't the case in 1980, as Troy finished with a 12-9 ledger. They are clearly hoping the addition of women to the team will do the same on the links as it did on the bowling lanes last winter, lifting the Flying Horses out of the cellar. Tuesday's opener at Bethlehem was not reported to the media.

In volleyball, Troy was again among the top teams in the Big 10, and in 1980, the Lady Horses won their 3rd straight league title, finishing at 10-2. As with tennis & golf, volleyball results today are not reported with any consistency, and Troy finished with just 3 wins last year.

Troy's swimming team is now split into two units, with the women in the fall, and the men now merging with Christian Brothers Academy in the winter. In 1980, the Horses had "a solid record", but full records are hard to find. The men's team's merger with CBA can be attributed to dwindling interest among the boys at either school, a trend in other sports around Section II.

Everyone knows that Troy's football team is one of the elite in Section II today, but it wasn't always that way.

In the two years I was a student there, the Flying Horses were unable to win a single game. Things were so bad, and I've shared this story elsewhere, the offense could not successfully execute their goal line formation at a pep rally. The futility of the football team resulted in Coach Steve Forman being replaced after the 1980 season. Forman also coached the hockey team to a 9-7 record during the winter, which took some of the sting out of all the losing.

In 1980, Troy's cheerleading team had a squad of 11 on the varsity. In recent years, that number has doubled. They've had anywhere between 22-25 women on the team in the last four years. Troy actually experimented with having boys on the cheerleading team, with the first one joining the team in 1981 after I graduated. There's been none since, however.

I recall that Troy had a cross country team in 1980, but there's no record of their 1980 season in the yearbook. Again, track results are hard to come by in this era.

Now, if there's anything I might have missed, don't hesitate to let me know.