Dripping Springs sports through the '20s and '30s

Newspapers that covered events in Dripping Springs were still scant in the early years of the 1920s, so coverage of sports was also scarce.

Since its public school charter in 1876, the Dripping Springs school district covered 30 square miles. While that might not sound very large, most of the county school districts at the time were similar in size. One has to take travel into consideration: school had to be reached by foot or horse. Dripping Springs, of course, included the town, but the rest of the district was mostly bigger ranches.

This did not leave much room for attendance growth.

The district’s saving grace was that many chose to have large families, and schools would have many family names in attendance for a decade or so. For example, longtime doctor, E.P. Shelton had 13 children; it was not unusual to have five to eight in a family.

County school districts were the most common due to all the small communities in the state. This meant the schools were governed by a County Superintendent and County School Board while the local school had a principal and a local school board. Most schools did not have more than eight grades, and then, if they chose, they could transfer to an 11- or 12-grade school. If one wanted to attend college, they had to complete all 12 grades.

Until 1929, a student was required to attend at seven, but after that was dropped to six. Attendance would be enhanced by the county decision to name Dripping Springs as the recipient of receiving those students from other CSD schools that had less than eleven grades.

After the University Interscholastic League was formed, the playoff system was the same until the 1940s. Each county would have a county meet where any school could enter the event. The winner of the county competition would then compete at the district meet, consisting of 1015 counties. The winner there would go to regionals and then to state. This often gave the larger schools, such as San Marcos High School, the advantage.

Although we know Dripping Springs had basketball teams earlier, the earliest game published was a 13-3 win over Driftwood in 1922. It is believed Dripping Springs entered the county meets when they were started. Results found had Dripping Springs competing well with two thirds, four seconds and a county championship in 37-38 in twelve years. Consistent opponents in the tourney were Buda, Kyle, Goforth, Henley, Mt. Gainer, San Marcos and Wimberley.

Some of the players during that span were Howard Brack, John Ferrell, Leon Moffett, Malcolm Lindsey, Wallace Horner, Norman Breed, Darrell Lindsey, Dudley Lindsey, Leroy Johnson, E.E. Myers, Damon Hollingsworth and Ed Gray.

UIL began sponsoring basketball in 1918, but girls sports hit opposition from groups that thought sports were too strenuous for girls, and it was dropped in 1928. The rural schools did not seem to buy that way of thinking, and girls basketball continued at many rural schools, including Dripping Springs.

The UIL finally reinstated the sport in 1950. Newspaper coverage was slim — just like for the boys. The earliest score was a 13-0 win over Driftwood in 1922. The 30-31 team had the most coverage. Players listed as playing on that team were Clell Basket, Angeline Lindsey, Alberta Puryear, Louella Johnson, Lillie Susan Miles, Ethel Lindsey and Ila Mae Miles.

As a historian, I am always looking to fill in the blanks of Dripping Springs sports history. We will continue this series next week.