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The Academy’s Connection to the Mobile County Training School

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The Academy’s Connection to the Mobile County Training School
The United States Sports Academy and the Mobile County Training School (MCTS) alumni association have had a rewarding partnership since 2013. USSA photo

By Dr. Brandon Spradley |

The United States Sports Academy and the Mobile County Training School (MCTS) alumni association have had a rewarding partnership since 2013. The late Bill Clark, who taught chemistry and coached multiple sports at MCTS, served as a trustee at the Academy from 2012 to 2015. Clark, along with current MCTS alumni association president Anderson Flen were among the first to see the value in partnering with an institution like the United States Sports Academy.

In 2013, the organizations partnered together to create an oral history of athletes and coaches from MCTS. The project features interviews with great athletes such as Larry Shears, Norman Hill, A.C. Mosley, Theodore Spradley III, Rev. Julius Caesar Hope, Washington Taylor, Gabe Coleman, John Bacot, Charles Hope, and Bill Kidd. The project also features interviews from two great MCTS coaches (William Clark and Curtis Horton) who both reminiscence about the greatness of longtime head football coach Charles Rhodes.

The project was officially launched at the beginning of 2014. The project was successful in capturing the unsung stories of athletes and coaches from MCTS. A reporter from al.com reached out and wrote a few articles about the project, one featuring 1967 graduate and star football player Larry Shears. In the article, Shears reminisces about his success as an MCTS athlete and how significant it was to represent the school and the community. 

“In our community — and when I say our community, I’m talking about Magazine Point, Plateau, Happy Hill, Chickasaw, all of the county communities, Saraland — athletics was a big deal for those communities,” Shears said. We didn’t have a college team here. We didn’t have a professional team. So sports was something that all communities got into with their high school teams (al.com, Larry Shears).

The oral history project is currently housed on the United States Sports Academy’s online library website and can also be found on AlabamaMosaic, which is a repository of digital materials on Alabama’s history, culture, places, and people.

Here are the links:

http://ussa.libguides.com/c.php?g=678865&p=4785364

http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/landingpage/collection/ussa

The partnership has also been rewarding for current and recent students at the middle school. In 2015, students from Mobile County Training School visited the United States Sports Academy and had the opportunity to see the human performance laboratory and the sport art museum. The students also had the opportunity to speak with some of the professors such as longtime Academy faculty member Dr. Fred Cromartie. The Academy also reached out to the middle school’s athletic department to donate materials and assessments to help identify concussions in athletes.

The MCTS Alumni Association and the United States Sports Academy are currently planning to partner on a few other projects that will benefit both current students and graduates of MCTS.  

Dr. Brandon Spradley is the chair of sports management at the United States Sports Academy. He recently discussed issues related to the rise of eSports in the sports profession.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hi. My mom was a student there in the 50’s her graduation year would have been 1956. Her name is Mary Aice Patton-Fielder. I was trying to find out if there were any photos of her, being she was a majorette!! Any questions or concerns plz contact me! 251 264 4942. My name is Deena Fielder. Thank you
    Mobile County Training School Mobile, Al

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