Admiral King Cheerleaders – Sept. 11, 1970

Back when Lorain had several high schools, the Journal used to feature a photo of each school's cheerleading team in the weeks leading up to the football season. 

The above photo, featuring the Admiral King High School cheerleaders, ran in the paper on September 11, 1970 – fifty years ago this month.

I like that the photo's headline can be taken not only to mean to cheer for the school’s team, but for the man as well.

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Even after all these years, I still think the Lorain school system goofed when the Admiral King name was discarded as a high school name, and reassigned to an elementary school.

From a practical viewpoint, having the one high school in Lorain called Lorain High School made sense. And it was nice to let the kids decide what they wanted to be called, with the final decision being ‘the Titans.’ 

But a lot of history and pride was lost when the Admiral King name was abandoned. Never again would the name of Lorain’s most famous and accomplished son get regular exposure on the evening sports reports. Anyone who followed high school sports knew that Admiral Ernest J. King was from Lorain, Ohio. While Lorain will never forget him, he is doomed to be forgotten by the general public.

By going with the Titans, Lorain lost the opportunity to keep a maritime theme (the Admirals) for its sports teams as well, despite the city’s shipbuilding history, its harbor, its river, its iconic Lighthouse, its location on Lake Erie, etc.

Meanwhile, other nearby cities like Vermilion (the Sailors) and Avon Lake (the Shoremen) got it right, and reinforced their lakefront heritage and identity with their team names.

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UPDATE (October 4, 2020)

A month later, the Journal published photos of both the Southview Saints cheerleaders and the South Amherst majorettes.

From October 14, 1970 Journal

From October 17, 1970 Journal