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SMSA Hall of Fame

Cassandra Umelo

Sport and Medical Sciences Academy

Capstone

Mrs. Zamorski

October 20, 2023

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The history of the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy through sports has shaped the

way the school is today. In the summer of 1996, Bruce Micheals presented the idea of starting

the Sport Sciences Academy with his partner, Karen Finder. One of the prior debates was

including sports in SSA. Bruce Micheals had to explain to the Hartford School District that

having sports being a typical stereotype for minority students was not the sole purpose of having

sports in SMSA. In 1997, SSA officially began as a charter school, whose mission was to

prepare high school students for the array of careers revolving around the Sport and Medical

Sciences, from Sports Journalism to Physical Therapy. In 1997, when SMSA was starting, it was

agreed that athletes would continue playing on their town’s school teams. That was creating

issues among students who played other students in their town and students began advocating to

have sports at SSA. One example was when the students from the city football team requested a

meeting with Karen Finder and June Bernabucci to develop a plan to bring football to SSA

(Michaels, 2023). From 1997 on, plans to have sports at SSA were successful, since then teams

playing independently were always trying to find game leagues to play in and coaches. In the

beginning, there was a lot of teacher turnover as well as coaching turnover (Michaels, 2023). The

first athletic teams started off as a JV program when they started sports in SSA. For boys, they

had football, basketball, and baseball. For girls, the sports are volleyball, basketball, soccer, and

softball. (Michaels, 2023).

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The biggest challenge for the sports programs was trying to get into a league and be competitive.

For example, the boy's football team joined the Pequot League and most other sports competed

in the Constitutions league where the teams were very successful (Michaels, 2023). Another

challenge was finding places to play the sports. It was very difficult for them to find places to

play because the districts were holding places for other schools to play. Usually, the SSA athletic

team had to drive an hour and a half to find a school to compete against.

Today, the Sports and Medical Science Academy is under the CREC system in Hartford.

The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and began as a grassroots

organization of local school districts working together to solve common problems (CREC, n.d )

CREC Magnet Schools are diverse in theme but united in purpose that all of our students can and

shall learn to their highest potential. According to CREC, their mission is to provide educators

and students with a place to love learning and to give them a school of their interest, designed to

encourage innovation, exploration, and excitement of new knowledge. Currently, CREC

manages over 40 school facilities, including 16 interdistrict magnet schools (Anthony, 2009).

CREC provides transportation services to 180 cities and towns and impacts more than 10,000

students each school year. (CREC, n.d )

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The reason interdistrict magnet schools were created was because of the landmark case

of Sheff v. O’Neill. Since the case of Sheff. v. O’Neill, rumors were spreading that charter

schools would close. (Micheals, 2023) However, in accordance with the terms of the Sheff vs.

O'Neill decision, , the school achieved magnet status in 2002 and a grant application to the State

for the construction of a new facility was approved in 2009. (NEREJ, 2009).

Sport and Sciences Academy moved from the Bond Hotel to the old Morse School of

Business building on the corner of Ann St. to Asylum Avenue in 2002. The name SSA was

changed to SMSA in 2004, adding the word “medical” to the school name. This was a strategy

to draw suburban students who particularly were interested in the idea of combining science and

medicine into their studies (Micheals, 2023).

The following year, after the new renovations of SMSA, they had varsity teams in all

sports, which meant that they weren't part of a league anymore because they were doing such

outstanding performances in the other leagues. However, they dealt with the regular scheduling

conflicts, budgetary restraints or limitations are also a regular occurrence. According to the

CIAC, from 2003 through 2022 sports offered were football, boys and girls soccer, girls

volleyball, boys and girls basketball, and softball.

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Exhibit A shows the proportions of boys/girls participation over the durations of years started

from 2001 up until now. The starting participation for boys in 2001/2002 was 90 and for girls it

was 45. As the years passed, the girl's participation reached its peak in 2010-2011, with 110

girls in sports. The boy's participation reached its peak in 2013-2014, with 120 boys in sports.

As the years passed, boys' participation increased more than girls. However, both declined

dramatically in 2019-2020, with 51 boys and 29 girls participating in sports. being at 51 and girls

only being at 29. Covid-19 drastically affected many aspects of sports at SMSA and in March

2020, the school went into lockdown. Sports seasons were postponed, shortened, and even

canceled (Svoboda, 2023). Throughout this period in sports activities, SMSA implemented safety

protocols such as testing, mask-wearing, limited attendance games, and social distancing to

minimize transmission. According to the CIAC, spring sports such as baseball, softball, and track

were not recorded due to SMSA being in lockdown. However, football had a record of 8-2-0.

Boys soccer had a record of 4-11-1. Girls' soccer had a record of 1-15-0. Girls volleyball had a

record of 15-4. Boys basketball was 17-3 and girls basketball 11-9. They were also listed in the

SMSA CIAC participation record in sports that have been implemented since the aftermath of

the pandemic
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Sport and Medical Sciences Academy has reached its 26-year anniversary and the school has

been through many memorable moments in sports from practices, game day, and championships.

The sports in SMSA has carried the school foundations and great recognition, not only for the

school but for students in the form of being granted sports-related scholarships. These

achievements surely could not have been achieved without dedicated athletic staff who helped

with all procedures and protocols necessary to bring sports to SMSA .

Creating a Hall of Fame requires a few steps to be taken. The first step is to

research general information for establishing a Hall of Fame, such as researching other Hall of

Fames that other schools have already established. The second step is to contact the school’s

athletic director to get email information about the Chairpersons of their Halls of Fame. . The

third step is assembling the Hall of Fame committees which are usually composed of the

school's athletic alumni, its Principal and its Athletic Director. . Once the committee is

established, the committee itself will establish officers. The fourth step is for the committee to

then develop by-laws and establish criteria to be inducted.

Criteria would be different for a coach, athlete, or team. The fifth step would be for the

Hall of Fame Committee to develop nomination forms and procedures, as well as when and

where voting would take place each year. . The sixth step would be funding for the Hall of Fame,

a main goal of the Hall of Fame Committee. .

-close this gap-

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The seventh step to establish a Hall of Fame is to decide how to get the information out to

alumni, announcing the formation of the Hall of Fame and the procedure for nomination.. The

eighth step is that the committee would have to decide on what type of physical award they

would be presenting to the inductees that would impact fundraising. The final step would be

planning the first induction ceremonies. (Callis, 2023)

In conclusion, SMSA having a hall of fame helps give back to the members of the SMSA

community in many ways. First, it helps to celebrate and recognize the achievements of past

SMSA community members (Callis, 2023). Second, the initiative helps create a sense of pride

and traditions within the SMSA community. It also serves as an inspiration for current and

future athletes and helps motivate them to strive to their best so that perhaps, some day, they

too can be specially recognized in the SMSA Hall of Fame. Establishing an SMSA Hall of Fame

could also help enhance the school’s reputation. When a school has a strong athletic program and

a distinguished Hall of Fame, it can attract potential students, parents, and sponsors.(Callis,

2023) Establishing a Hall of Fame at SMSA could also lead to an increase in enrollment. All

told, establishing a Hall of Fame at SMSA would strengthen the school's athletic program and

honor the school's ever-growing sports legacy.

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References

Anthony, M . (September 21 2004 ). Kelly leads Manchester . Hartford Courant : 22 out of 220

Callis, D . "Capstone." (personal communication, October 17, 2023)

Lungarini, G. (n.d.). CIAC Sports. Sports. http://ciacsports.com/site/?page_id=24

Michaels, B. "Capstone." (personal communication, October 14, 2023)

NEREJ, 2009. The commercial real estate media source. NEREJ. https://nerej.com/print/8890

Svoboda, J . "Sport Statistics." (personal communication, November 13, 2023)