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Message: [QUOTE="Cheriehoop, post: 44728, member: 127"] I played for a rec team with a number of St Pat's grads and we practiced there for years (till about 2002). The ceilings were low (but not as low as St Vincents which also had poles to the roof on it -painful screen/pick) but funniest was when you ran really hard and had trouble stopping yourself, you'd either run into the stage at one end or hopefully jump up onto the stage because of momentum. At the other end of the gym, you'd run into a door or as I saw many times, run violently push the door open and hopefully slowing down on the landing before tumbling down th stairs. It always made me laugh when someone would get a fastbreak and disappear through the door or have to jump up on the stage. Makeup speed was necessary to ensure the opponent didn't take advantage. There were well known dead spots on the floor and a useful skill was knowing where they were and luring your opponent on offense into one of them. Tom, you're right Assumption did have tile on the floor and to reach it fans had to climb up this long thin set of stairs because it was on an upper floor also. St Vincent's gym was condemned while I was in high school and they played their games at Henninger at ungodly times because they were of course on the bottom of the totem pole for gym use and practice. My son played for St Pat's CYO and they still played St Vincent's at St Vincent's in the early 2000's. Amazing. St Anthony's had a balcony. St John the Baptists had a stage much like St Pat's. Evangelist, Vincent's and I think Cathedral all had to travel because their home gyms didn't even match up to the bandboxes anymore when I was in high school. I can't remember Lucy's gym but I think it was accessible from the ground floor. I remember Eli Moses and his brothers , huge seemingly older American-Indians who starred for them when I was an underclassmen but what the gym looked like escapes me. Hearts and Rosary who finally rebuilt their gym around 1959 had the newest, biggest gyms set in attached "parish centers" on an upper floor. Times have changed for sure. Now kids and their parents think their child is underprivileged if they don't have turf, athletic centers, weight rooms, traveling year round AAU teams, expensive uniforms etc. It just doesn't seem too long ago all it took was a ball, a basket, converse sneaks, not much more than a t-shirt and duo/triple use type gyms if any at all, to motivate kids. It was a definite upgrade to the weather, netless baskets etc and the conditions they endured at the city parks or the neighborhood garage for hours on end. There was great coaching like Coach Ewanychek for Hearts(sorry about the spelling), Bob Hayes for St Pat's, Coach Hassett, Roche and Rose for Rosary, Coach Satalin for Baptists, Coach Felasco for Evangelist, Cathedral and then CBA I think etc. Funny even the infamous ref, Froggy Paparo coached MHR's JV team in the 70's. The CYO parish coaches were also very good. Jerry Wilcox coached at St Bridgit's CYO for 15 years before he coached at Ludden, then West Genesee and Liverpool. Mike Kitts played at St Anthony's and later started his reffing in the womens' game in city rec. [/QUOTE]

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