For many families in Lambertville, West Amwell and the area, youth athletics are an exciting, rewarding part of life and have been for decades. Through the local recreational leagues, kids belong to their first teams, wear their first uniforms, and give and receive their first high-fives. Good habits and camaraderie are established at practices. Wins are celebrated, losses endured. Each season brings a new set of activities, expectations and successes, made possible by scores of dedicated volunteers and our supporting community.
One volunteer is Jim Troutman, commissioner of the Lambertville-New Hope Ramblers Football & Cheerleading Programs and commissioner and referee of the Lambertville Basketball Association (LBA). For the Lambertville-West Amwell Youth Baseball & Softball Association (LWAYBSA), Jim is an umpire, administrator and groundskeeper.
Jim Troutman: Youth sports create memories that last a lifetime. Playing is so much fun and makes better men and women. You’ll miss it when it’s done. I still miss it.
I started playing baseball when I was eight—I remember my knees shaking in the batter’s box as I faced the 12-year-old pitchers. I also played football and basketball. My coaches were awesome. While I was a high school student at South, I coached basketball in 1981. I started coaching Ramblers football in 1996.
I took over the management of the basketball and football leagues in 2003. To run these leagues, you’ve got to be hands-on, always there, and responsible in case something happens. Some of my predecessors managing the Ramblers were Mark Voorhees, Steve Stintsman, Frank Fuzo, and Bob Pierman for many years. Before me, Rick Kropp was the LBA commissioner for 10 years, and previous commissioners included Jim Widener, Neale Myers, Bill McCrea, and Raymond “Razor” Lind. Dr. Clyde Henry was mainly responsible for establishing the gym at the rear of the First Presbyterian Church as the venue for LBA basketball.
Dr. J. Clyde Henry was pastor of First Presbyterian from December 1953 until he retired in December 1979. The gym was built and completed in 1957. In a 1958 article in The Beacon, we read, “First Presbyterian Church to Organize 3 Brand New Basketball Leagues.”
Mike Menche: Can I tell you about a local family that had moved to another state? They missed Lambertville and moved back. Their daughter joined an LBA basketball team midseason and after a week there was a game. The mom told me she was sitting on a folding chair in the church gym and moved to tears by Lambertville, the quintessential small-town environment, the community of families and friends, the joy of the kids, the sense of belonging…it made her so happy.
Photo by Jay Garrison
Jim Troutman: I really love basketball at the church gym. It’s so important to play games here. We play some games up at South and we’ve been invited to play more games there, but I intend to keep many games at the church.
In LBA basketball, we give several awards at the end of every season. For the girls, the MVP receives the Emily Marshall award—Emily was a player and a wonderful girl who tragically died young. The boys MVP receives the Bob Whipple award—Bob was a longtime LBA coach. Our sportsmanship award for both girls and boys is named for Razor Lind, who was the nicest guy and was a player, coach and commissioner.
Mike Menche: The origins of Lambertville Ramblers football are a little murky. According to the 1988 commemorative Ramblers program, “Joe (Puggy) DiSalvo and ten others organized the Lambertville Ramblers and Little Ramblers in 1968.”
Jim Troutman: Ramblers history actually goes back more than 80 years to when the team initiated its membership in the Warren County Midget Football League.
There are Beacon articles that support Jim’s view. There seem to have been several starts and restarts. For example, a 1960 article announced “Midget Footballers Have First Meeting.”
Jim Troutman: The age groups for football and cheerleading are Flag Peewees (3rd and 4th Grade), Biddies, now called JV (5th and 6th Grade), and Midgets, now called Varsity (7th and 8th Grade).
Photo by Jay Garrison
Mike Menche: Since The Beacon closed and local media largely evaporated, there are no longer colorful reports about our small-town sports contests. Parents like me post on Facebook to proudly share our kids’ feats with family and friends, but that activity pales next to the exuberant journalism that was in The Beacon.
Jim Troutman: The Beacon’s publisher Joe Hazen personally reported on many Ramblers games at Ely Field. He was there most weekends.
“The Ramblers did not die,” we read in a September 29, 1977 Beacon article, “Jimmy Troutman fired a pass to Raymond Lind, who turned on the speed and scampered 40 yards for a TD.”
It’s not clear when the Rambler Cheerleaders began, but we can enjoy articles like this one in 1972, which reports, “Making their debut will be the Rambler Cheerleaders Patty Goccia, Cindy Shoemaker, Crissy DiSalvi, Robin Schenck, Jo Ann Foy, Renee Riddle, Valeria Pierman and Lori Miller. The Little Rambler Cheerleaders are Carol Pierman, Pat Hackney, Pam Hackney, Cheryl Reasoner, Patricia Hilton, Dayna Park, Patty Cicchino and Merry Carbone in their new cheerleading outfits.”
Mike Menche: Let’s talk about baseball and softball.
Jim Troutman: We have a great group in charge. Matt Lyons is the president. Some Baseball/Softball predecessors were Marc Currie, Rich Roy, Lolly Hoagland & myself.
Photo by Jay Garrison
The baseball league may have begun in 1958, according to this Beacon article that reported six teams were to be formed for an 8-12 league, with a meeting to be held at the home of William Losch. The softball league may have started in 1969. In The Beacon we read about, “Bill Maguire of Clinton Street, throwing in the first ball of the season at the opening game of the newly formed Girls Softball League of Lambertville.”
Photo by Jay Garrison
Mike Menche: I read that Marion Edwards handled registration for softball in the early 1970s.
Jim Troutman: “Mikey” Edwards painted signs of Major League Baseball teams to decorate Ely Field.
Mike Menche: Tell us about the folks who support the leagues. For example, you do landscaping and maintenance at Ely and Hewitt Fields.
Jim Troutman: One of my biggest worries is flooding at Ely Field. We clean the drains regularly as a preventative measure. The baseball league has team sponsors and field signs, which are super helpful. Football does not have team sponsors. All the coaches and groundskeepers are volunteers. The LBA coaches and referees are all volunteers.
Mike Menche: How has participation changed over the years?
Jim Troutman: For baseball and softball there are about 200 kids today, down from around 300 kids twenty years ago. For basketball there are about 175 today, down from around 275.
Mike Menche: Who were some of the great athletes?
Jim Troutman: Colleen McCrea was one of the best female athletes ever at South Hunterdon. Joe Garefino was outstanding in football and basketball, as was Chester Reasoner. Skip Johnson was a terrific baseball and basketball player. Those are just a few—there are so many more I could name, I don’t mean to leave anyone out.
For other perspectives on local athletics, we talked with Bruce and Marc Currie.
Bruce Currie: I started in LWAYBSA baseball in 1960 when I was eight and I played four years. The 8–12-year-olds all played together, which could make it tough on the youngest. My biggest fear was trying to catch Louie Young, who pitched so hard. One reason I loved baseball was that I could eat cereal and go to practice—and skip a dinner of liver and stuffed peppers! I remember my mom once got hit in the leg by a foul ball, but that didn’t stop her. She helped get the softball league going. My baseball coach was Ozzie Foy. I was LWAYBSA president from 1990-1991 and coached for four years—my sons Marc and Brad played. I umpired and managed the umpires. Coaches included Mike Sharp, Rich Aneskewich, and Simi Cifelli.
When I played football at South, I was an assistant coach of the Ramblers, and afterward I became a head coach. The youngest divisions were the Peewees and the Midgets. There were about 35 kids on each team. Eighth graders couldn’t weigh more than 130 pounds—today the limit is higher. Coaches included Puggy DiSalvi and Harry Blair. Bubby Gailloux and Champ Clark were Lambertville legends. Bob Pierman stored the equipment in his garages. Tim Losch was the announcer for many years—on game day, he transported equipment on his flatbed truck. The improvement of Ely Field, featuring the brick and gate wall, was tremendous.
Sports keep kids from sitting at home on the computer. It is so cool to watch the younger generations, including my grandsons, play baseball and football where I played and my sons played. Jim Troutman is a blessing—he has done a hell of a job.
Bruce and his LBA teammates posed for a photo in the August 9, 1962 issue of The Beacon.
Marc Currie: I played in LWAYBSA from 1986-1992. It was T-Ball when I was 7-8 years old, then baseball from 9-12. As a nine-year-old it was tough to hit 12-year-olds throwing 60+ mph! The fields were rugged back then. The umpires were volunteers.
I started Ramblers football in 3rd grade and played six years. I began basketball in kindergarten at the church. This was my third year as a basketball ref. I’ve coached baseball for 10 years—my sons Nolan and Mason play. Youth sports are super important. They build character. It’s about more than the game—the pregame and postgame matter so much, as does watching your buddies.
Jim Troutman is so organized and a driving force. The leagues are run so smoothly. The continuity from year to year is critical. I’m not sure Lambertville could sustain such a league without Jim.
Marc had an excellent baseball game in late May of 1993, with a single, double and triple, and 10 strikeouts as pitcher, as noted in this issue of The Beacon.
Mike Menche: Who were especially great athletes you remember?
Marc Currie: The greatest basketball player—really, the greatest athlete—ever to come from our rec leagues was Colleen McCrea.
A banner for Colleen (McCrea) Maguire hangs at South Hunterdon Regional High School, in honor of her extraordinary basketball career, in which she scored 2,162 points. She starred at George Washington University. Today Colleen is the executive director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), a voluntary, non-profit organization of approximately 440 accredited public and non-public high schools. The NJSIAA “conducts tournaments and crowns champions in 33 sports, and…assists member schools in providing equitable education-based interscholastic athletic opportunities that support academic achievement, good sportsmanship and fair play for student athletes.” We talked to Colleen about her athletic activities in Lambertville.
Colleen (McCrea) Maguire: I remember playing basketball in that church in the winter, down the steps and in the gym. I would get excited on Saturday morning because after the game I was able to walk down with friends for pizza and soda at Jack’s Pizzeria [at 4 N. Union Street], which was always a highlight. It is a small community, and everyone was cheering for everyone. We won some, lost some, and I don’t remember ever leaving there upset.
I played basketball and softball in the town leagues. I always enjoyed it because you knew everyone. I couldn’t wait for the next season to keep playing. You look back and realize it was a really good environment for the kids because there weren’t many on each team, so everyone got a lot of playing time. Everyone got to participate, no matter their level, which is important for young kids. They just need to play and feel like they’re a part of the team—that’s what keeps them coming back.
One year, Dana Pinnett [now Dana O’Neil] and a couple of her friends who were also athletes at South coached my basketball team. I looked up to those girls. It was super fun to have someone in high school coaching your team, as opposed to just your dad! Dana now works for Villanova University. She was a journalist for ESPN and The Athletic and is very well known and respected in college sports.
Mike Menche: How should we think about small-town rec leagues like Lambertville’s? Are they important?
Colleen (McCrea) Maguire: I think they’re more important than ever because sports have become a divisive world where too many parents are looking for immediate rewards of playing time and wins, and they are running their kids all over the place just to get the next opportunity, like personal training or travel leagues. There is a real divide between their kids and those whose parents don’t have the resources to run them around. Rec leagues provide equitable opportunities for all kids. It’s not about winning and developing elite athletes—it’s about engaging kids and making them feel good about themselves. If kids are playing sports at a younger age, they are getting physical exercise and having fun with friends who might not be in their classes. It’s extremely important to make kids feel like they belong in the community and that they connect with people. They learn how to be a part of a team.
Small towns like Lambertville are still able to run rec leagues with a lot of success, thanks to truly dedicated volunteers. I applaud Jim Troutman and all his efforts. He’s one of the real people out there on the ground making a difference for the kids. He should be celebrated!
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Enjoy these photos by Jay Garrison, the chronicler of Lambertville Life!
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