February 20, 2008
The Dixie Howell Memorial Gymnasium
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
Ocean City High School won boys basketball championships before Fred "Dixie" Howell arrived on the scene in 1952. And
the Raiders have won a few since he left coaching in 1968. But during his 16 years as head coach, OCHS won nine
Cape-Atlantic League championships (including eight straight), three South Jersey titles and a pair of state titles.
He won 277 basketball games and lost just 69. He also had success in baseball and coached both boys and girls tennis
briefly. As athletics director, Dixie presided over a period that saw the addition of more than 10 new varsity sports.
All of this is impressive. A winning coach that produced championships. An athletics director that hired many very
successful coaches and guided an expansion of the athletic program.
But those were not the big things that he brought to sports in Ocean City. What Dixie Howell provided, and what is the
primary reason so many worked hard to arrange the dedication of the new gym in his name, can be summarized in one word.
Influence.
Dixie influenced young athletes to work hard and become better, showing them the fundamentals they would need. He joined
with Fenton Carey to influence the school to allow them to begin a Saturday morning sports program for pre-high school
athletes that would be a major success.
He influenced community leaders to get involved in the formation of the Ocean City Youth Athletic Association and the
Ocean City Hawks. He influenced the recreation department to allow him to create a summer basketball league that was
second to none at the shore.
But, most importantly, he influenced the students walking the hall. Whether they were athletes or not, he was always
ready to offer them a smile, listen to their problems and encourage them to continue working to solve them.
You can read the memories a number of people have concerning Dixie elsewhere in this week's Gazette. They give you their
personal experiences with the man. But almost every one is about influence.
For a number of years in the 1950s, Howell and Carey were the entire athletics department at OCHS. Carey coached
football, swimming and track. Dixie coached basketball and baseball. There was no athletics director, so each made up
his own schedule and handled all arrangements.
Both coaches were positive and encouraging, keeping track of their former players and pointing out their successes with
pride. There are very few male athletes (there were no girls sports most of the time they were coaching) who came
through Ocean City High School who were not strongly impacted by one or both of these two men.
Years ago, Ocean City named its football stadium in honor of Fenton and John Carey. After Friday, sitting right beside
it, will be the Dixie Howell Memorial Gymnasium.
It is appropriate because Fenton Carey and Dixie Howell are clearly the two most important people in the illustrious
history of Ocean City sports.
There will be many people in the gym Friday night who no longer attend OCHS games. Many of them live far away. They are
returning to see the man who influenced their lives given a permanent tribute.
Ocean City High School athletes over the past two decades did not know Dixie Howell. They may not know about the
influence he had on their parents and grandparents. But now they will know the name, they will learn and improve in the
gym that carries the name and they will gain a respect for another of the leaders whose influence had a lot to do with
making sports in Ocean City what it is today.
Try to be there Friday when the Dixie Howell Memorial Gymnasium is dedicated.
The Dixie Howell Years in Basketball
1968 ------- 15-6 --- Dave Beyel 14.9
1966-67 --- 15-7 --- John Moore 15.6
1965-66 --- 18-2 --- Rick Howell 18.6 --- CAL champions
1964-65 --- 15-9 --- John Laudenslager 14.9
1963-64 --- 21-4 --- John Cranston 18.8 --- State Group 2 champions
1962-63 --- 16-7 --- Charlie Baker 15.9
1961-62 --- 19-4 --- Jerry Fadden 17.1 --- CAL champions
1960-61 --- 14-5 --- Gary Satrappe 20.1 --- CAL champions
1959-60 --- 19-2 --- Ken Leary 16.4 --- CAL champions
1958-59 --- 20-2 --- Ken Leary 15.7 --- CAL champions
1957-58 --- 21-1 --- Mike Fadden 20.3 --- CAL champions
1956-57 --- 23-1 --- Tom Adams 17.7 --- SJ Group 2 & CAL champions
1955-56 --- 16-3 --- Wayne Thompson 17.8 --- CAL champions
1954-55 --- 21-1 --- Joe Kennedy 15.9 --- State Group 1 & CAL champions
1953-54 --- 15-4 --- Joe Kennedy 12.6
1952-53 --- 9-11 --- Joe Kennedy 10.6
Read more of
Tom Williams' columns