Howard Sports History: Frank Lupashunski
Nicole Parker '24 Sports Editor
When the doors to Howard High School first opened in 1952, Frank Lupashunski was there, a social studies teacher and coach known to his students as “Mr. Lupe.” He retired in 1984, but still lives in Ellicott City and feels a connection to Howard High School where his wife AnnaMae was a library aide, and from which his three daughters graduated. The Lupashunskis like to talk about their school and recently shared what the sports program was like nearly 70 years ago, before Howard High was known for its great athletics.
High school sports were a lot different in the 1950s than they are now. According to Mrs. Lupashunski, outside of cheerleading, there were no girls’ sports, as “[girls] played in phys-ed, but they didn’t have their own teams.” County and regional championships were a long way away in 1952 when Mr. Lupashunski said the football team was “relatively popular, “ but had just six players, while the basketball team was “trash.” The basketball team improved; in 1959 the team won the District 3 championship and was runner-up in the state tournament. The sports program grew over the years, adding baseball and volleyball, and in 1959 Mr. Lupashunski started the school’s first golf team and became its first coach, even as he assisted coaches in other sports. Since no other public high school had a golf program, he said they played against area private schools. He reflects, “That was an experience that I always cherished. I was very happy. I taught the kids football, basketball and golf.” One of his former players, Joan Lovelace, is in the Howard County Women’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Lovelace joined the boys golf team in the early ‘70s after being encouraged by Mr. Lupashunski. By the late 1950s, Howard had girls’ field hockey, basketball and volleyball. In 1960, softball was added, and later, tennis. The uniforms for basketball and volleyball were actually skirts or dresses over tops. Although title IX in 1972 helped level the playing field by requiring gender equity for boys and girls in education programs, it took a long time for girls lacrosse to come to Howard County. It wasn’t until 1988 that girls lacrosse was approved by the Howard County school system — after Mr. Lupashunski retired. The first graduation class at Howard High was 108 students. A lot has changed since then, including the sports program and teacher’s salaries; Mr. Lupashunski said he made $2,600 a year in 1952 as a teacher. |