The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rationing of gas, tires led to reduced travel
In a high school sports sense, part of what makes being out of routine intolerable amid the novel coronavirus pandemic is it all feels so unprecedented.
Unfortunately, though, it’s not.
Albeit a bit different, hearty souls generations ago had to deal with their own possibility of no, or at least significantly altered, postseason competition.
The last time Ohio high school sports dealt with stoppages before 2020 — or at least the existential threat of them — came during World War II.
The primary focus as war was waged abroad were contributions to the cause domestically through production and rationing. That rationing took on several forms but was especially problematic for high school sports because of the concerted effort made in rationing gasoline and tires for transportation.
As far as state tournaments, prior to most of the winter and all of the spring being nixed in 2020, the only state tournament conducted by the Ohio High School Athletic Association to be entirely canceled was the 1942 state cross country meet. Aug. 14, 1942, Howard R. Townsend — the OHSAA’s first commissioner — announced the meet, slated for Oct. 31, would not be feasible.
Townsend told The Associated
Press, “It looks very much as if we might have to abandon all state high school sports contests during the war.”
The commissioner elaborated to the AP the following day after his comments had circulated. Townsend stated other extracurriculars, such as debate, music and drama, had been recommended for cancellation.
The Office of Defense Transportation ruled school buses were forbidden from use by athletic teams. In turn, if schools were unable to find alternative means of transport, they may have to scrap sports altogether.
Townsend also indicated an issue with available coaches. In that era at many schools, particularly smaller schools, one coach
“It looks very much as if we might have to abandon all state high school sports contests during the war.” — OHSAA commissioner Howard R. Townsend, on Aug. 14, 1942
would typically guide the football team in the fall, then basketball in the winter and track and field in the spring.
However, with many coaches serving in the armed forces, there were around 150 vacancies for coaches throughout the state, especially at smaller schools. It was approximated two schools in every county of Ohio didn’t have athletic coaches.
Another rationing that proved to be an issue, according to a report in the Aug. 15, 1942, edition of the Painesville Telegraph, was electricity. If a community participated in rolling blackouts to save power, in turn there would be schools unable to stage night competition.
Basketball for the 194243 season had to avert a serious threat Nov. 20, 1942, when Townsend stated he was meeting with the OHSAA’s six-member board to determine if hoops had a path on which to proceed because of rationing. The meeting concluded that path would be better determined by local officials.
“We endorse all tournaments insofar as local conditions will permit,” Townsend said, adding
coaches and officials had been advised to secure gas ration cards on an “occupational basis.”
The board issued a separate statement to the AP: “The army and navy wants athletics continued because it helps develop the men who later will join the services.”
In the winter of 1942, there was hope in basketball circles to be creative in supporting the war effort. Indiana officials called for a super tournament in boys basketball, in which the champions from Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana would play to benefit the Naval Relief Fund. Townsend doused those plans, though, when he noted the National Federation of State High School Associations had just passed a regulation prohibiting interstate competition.
The spring of 1942 didn’t yield high optimism, either.
As district track and field
meets loomed, meet managers wondered in early May if some teams would be able to attend and compete. At the time, there were fears from a tire shortage that made travel more difficult, especially for the Class B (small-school) programs of the era.
When asked for a prediction on how high school sports would be affected for the duration of the war, Townsend shared once more with statewide media his belief that state meets in all sports may have to be canceled going forward due to the tire and gasoline situation nationwide.
The week prior to that declaration, the Ohio High School Principals Association approved a resolution that all interscholastic competition be limited to within each of Ohio’s districts until the war’s conclusion.
When postseason track and field meets did transpire, athletes were unable
to mark success initially with team trophies and event medals. Townsend announced production on that hardware was — understandably — halted until later in the summer so materials could be prioritized for items needed in war production in the short term.
Townsend also remained pessimistic about future postseason events, declaring his opinion the spring competitions would be the last until after the war.
One helpful development came Sept. 4, 1943, when Townsend addressed an Ohio Association of Football Officials meeting. The commissioner stated football teams and officials would be eligible for extra gas rations.
“Officiating is a recognized occupation, and ration boards have been instructed to grant extra gasoline to officials,” Townsend said. “Because of the nature of the work, it will be impossible
much of the time to share rides.”
That extra dispersement, Townsend informed the meeting, would also apply to administrators, faculty managers, coaches and assistants.
Oct. 6, 1943, Townsend told the AP that spring football practice, a fairly common occurrence in that era, was banned by member schools by a vote of 278-94.
Jan. 16, 1944, the OHSAA announced district swimming meets were canceled due to war rationing, but that the state meet would still take place at Ohio State the following month. Townsend set qualifying as schools mailing entries to the OHSAA, trusting coaches to enter “only those with a reasonable chance to qualify for the finals.”
Sadly, Townsend wouldn’t get to preside over Ohio high school sports after World War II had concluded. June 7, 1944,
Townsend died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 60.
The OHSAA had to issue travel guidance May 17, 1945, after the Office of Defense Transportation emphasized again travel for athletic competition be curtailed. Seemingly putting postseason events in jeopardy for baseball, golf, track and field and tennis, new OHSA A commissioner H.W. Emswiler noted as long as athletes used private means of transportation to get to events, it would put “no extra burden” on public transportation deemed essential to the war effort.
The state cross country meet returned in 1943, and all other state high school sports competitions were indeed staged during World War II.
But — as society is discovering today while battling the coronavirus pandemic — it takes creativity and mettle to make it work.