​FROM THE 13th ANNUAL FCVBA AWARDS BANQUET
 
"Welcome Fighting Cocks and ladies of the Fighting Cock auxiliary to the 13th Annual Fighting Cock Awards Banquet.
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Unbeknownst to a number of those here, our elite and non-exclusive Fighting Cock Volley Ball Assn is now in its 23rd year of existence rather than its 13th year as many of you may be under the mistaken belief. You see, we were in our 10th year of existence when we decided to commemorate our 10th year anniversary with the awards banquet.  Jerry Cranny and Jack Briere were co-chairmen of the first awards banquet, and since then we have had an annual banquet of which this is the 13th.  In view of the great success of this banquet, being appointed chairman of this affair is a highly sought and fiercely fought for office, and this year I was the lucky one chosen to be chairman.  I hope the disappointed candidates will take their loss graciously and will be courteous and appreciative of our program.

Before getting into the awards I am going to take a little time to reminisce about the origin and growth of the Fighting Cock Volley Ball Assn.  Originally we were a no-name group, and we had sort of a Topsy and Eve kind of existence.  As I recall, one bright and sunny Saturday morning in 1957, I received a phone call from Bob Welch while I while I was doing the breakfast dishes. Bob said he was organizing a volley ball group which he hoped to eventually enter in international competition and the World Olympics.  A star studded group was gathering that afternoon to begin the competition and since he had heard of my prowess during my Army days, he suggested that I come out and join the group.  I said that if I could finish the breakfast dishes, clean the house, fix lunch, I’d try to make it. I managed to finish my chores and rushed out to the corner of Fall Creek and Sergeant Road where Bob had constructed a magnificent volley ball facility.

The tall grass had been cut on this plot of ground and two 2” X 4’’s had been driven into the ground approximately the regulation distance apart. A couple of bent nails had been driven into the 2” X 4”s in the general vicinity of the height where the net was to be hooked up.  For the boundary lines we set up beer cans – empty ones – at the corners.  We had no lines.  Funny thing, I don’t remember having as many arguments about out-of-bounds calls then as we do now when we have regulation boundary lines.

We played on this plot of ground at the corner of Fall Creek and Sargeant Road most Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings, weather permitting, for 2 or 3 years. When the grass grew too high we mowed the grass and the out-of-bounds were at the point where the tall grass grew. The rule was that if the tall grass bent or wiggled, the shot was out of bounds. Eventually we wore the grass out, so sometimes we played in a “dust bowl” or “mud bowl.”

When the Fairwood Hills Swim Club built a swimming pool and an asphalt tennis court on Sargeant Road not far from where we had been playing, we moved our operations to the Fairwood Hill Swim Club tennis court. In those years tennis was not as popular as it is now, so the tennis court was available to us on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings.  We continued our volley ball endeavors at this location for 4 or 5 years until the Fairwood Hills Swim Club encountered financial difficulties and discontinued operations. The Fairwood Hills Swim Club was succeeded by the Mackinac Swim Club and we resumed playing there – for a fee – for another year or two.

During the years we played at the corner of Fall Creek and Sergeant Road, Fairwood Hills Swim Club and Mackinac Swim Club we had trouble finding a suitable place to play when it rained and during the winter months.  However, our intrepid members scrounged around and found various places for us to display our talents. We have played indoors at such places as the Scecina H.S. Gym, Cathedral H.S. Gym, Marian College Gym, Butler U’s Women’s Gym, the K. of C. Ballroom at 14th and Delaware, P.S. #96 Gym, and the Recreation Room of a barracks at Ft. Harrison. On nice days when our regular facilities were not available for one reason or another, we played at such places as the Fourth Estate Picnic Grounds, Bud “Hurricane” Watts’ back yard, Northeastwood Recreation Area, St. Matthews’ playground, First Presbyterian Church grounds at 75th and N. Meridian, the back yard of Kennington Legion Post at 42nd & College, and some other places I don’t recall. Somewhere along the line it came to our attention the St. Joan of Arc gym was available and we made arrangements to concentrate our volley ball efforts there, and we have played there regularly for the last 12 years or so.

During these 23 years we have also conducted critiques of the days or nights play at various establishments that have voluntarily offered their facilities for our use.  The foremost of these of course has been this Kennington Legion Post, for many years heretofore located at 42nd and College. Other establishments of renown that have offered their facilities are McShane’s Tavern, the Red Key Tavern, the Anchor Inn, The K of C, the 46th St. Tavern, the Uptown Tavern, the Goldigger Inn (in Lawrence), and the back yards, family rooms and basements of various of our members.

We have had some memorable Christmas Parties hosted at the homes of our members and members of the Auxiliary, and we have had some unbelievable picnics and weenie roasts at the Fourth Estate Picnic Grounds, which were made available to us through the efforts of Bill Worcester.
During the 23 years of our existence we have had players come and go. About 2 or 3 years ago someone brought up the question of about how many men have played with us over the years.  We compiled a roster, alphabetically, and to the best of our recollection we have currently recorded 217 names. I am sure there must be 30 to 40 more names that we have failed to recall. I have this book with me tonight and if anyone feels like browsing through it later on, please do so.

As I stated earlier, for a number of years we had no name except perhaps “The Volley Ball Group”. On our 10th anniversary when decided to hold our first Awards banquet, the name of “Mud Creek Volley Ball Assn.” was selected by the awards committee. Mud Creek is the area in which our first volley ball court at the corner of Fall Creek and Sargeant Road was located. The following year we expanded the name to “Mud Creek, Fairwood Hills, St. Joan of Arc, Mackinac Park Volley Ball Assn. which for short was known as “MCFHSJAMPVBA”. This name continued until our 8th Annual Awards banquet in 1973 at which time an amendment to our charter was introduced by Jack Briere to change our name to “Fighting Cock Volley Ball Assn.” This amendment was unanimously adopted and this is the name by which we are now known. It is interesting to know that the inspiration for this name originated at a critique following a hotly contested session one afternoon. This critique was held at Dan Coogan’s former home on Ruckle St.  Dan’s mother-in-law was visiting Dan and had brought him some 103 proof gin which he wished we would sample. Which we did. The label on this gin bottle bore a picture of a lovely fighting cock which caught our eye and which was given close scrutiny by those who were still able to scrutinize.  It was unanimously agreed thereupon that the fighting cock exemplified the spirit and combativeness of our organization and that it was only appropriate that we adopt this symbol and the Fighting Cock name to identify our organization. Jack Briere prepared the formal document I mentioned earlier and since adoption of the amendment on April 10, 1973, we have been proudly known as the “Fighting Cock Volley Ball Assn.”

We also now have a “Wall of Fame” which is located in Dan Coogan’s home on N. Temple where we hold two board meetings annually; one on Labor Day afternoon, the other on New Year’s Day. Mementos and pictures are on display on this “Wall of Fame”.

I have probably bored a number of you with this bit of nostalgia and history, and you will be glad to know that I have come to an end because I can’t remember anymore. Thank you for your attention.
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Before proceeding with the volley ball awards, we have a little award for each of the Ladies of the Auxiliary."
 
                                                                        Adolph Chrapla
                                                                        June 10, 1978
 
Editor’s note: The name “Wall of Fame” was later changed to “Wall of Shame”.

​​Part I covered special happenings in the first 23 years of the Fighting Cock Volleyball Association’s existence (1957–1978). The following segment chronicles the next 36 years (1979–2014) since then to the current date. With this, we have now just entered our 59th year of continuous play. Be aware, though, that there has been some debate in the past about our start date. Some of our former members contend that we actually got started in 1956, but that is unverifiable anymore. So, we will stick with the written word. And just like the Lord’s Bible, our Fighting Cock bible isn’t entirely accurate either. Both rely upon old memories and word-of-mouth communications prior to documentation.

For the next 36 years our venues were more stable, but not completely stable, than those of our nomadic earlier years. From 1979-1983 we continued playing on Wednesday evenings at the St. Joan of Arc gym, a period spanning roughly 15 years there. It came to an abrupt end. During the last year there, cars were being vandalized in the parking lot during play. The crowning blow was an armed robbery. Four teens in ski masks entered the gym brandishing hand guns and relieved 12 of us of our rings, watches, jewelry, wallets, car keys and even our winter coats. At that point we said to SJA: “Addios, it’s been a fun gig, but we’re out of here.”

Somehow, we landed at the White River Community Center (formerly White River Elementary School), not far from downtown Ravenswood. We played there on Tuesday nights (Wednesdays were not available) from 1983-1984. From there, we moved over to the Washington Township Administrative Offices (formerly Wyandotte Elementary School) on E. 79th Street because the Tuesday night WRCC bail-out option was not desirable. At some point we played in Northview Middle School off of Westfield Boulevard. Boy, was that a nice gym! But, Northview M.S. shut down for the entire summer, so back to Wyandotte we went for the summer months (but on Tuesday nights).

St. Pius School built a new gym in 1990 and a handful of our members were parishioners. They were instrumental securing the gym for us on Wednesdays and we have played there regularly since, except for the month of July in the last 5-6 years when they shut down for the entire month.

When our primary gym has not been available, these have been our alternate venues: Castleton Business Park Fitness Center, an Elementary School gym in Carmel, St. Matthew gym, Immaculate Heart of Mary gym, Optimist Park in Broad Ripple, Doug DeGlopper’s sand court and the backyards of various FCVBA members. Our watering holes for our post-game activity have included Kennington American Legion Post #34 (both locations), the Northside Knights of Columbus, Taylor’s Pub, Time Out Lounge, Red Key Tavern, Birdies, Bubbaz’s Pub, Hooter’s in Castleton, a bar in the Keystone Square Shopping Center, Mickey Quinn’s Pub (Thanksgiving), Katie O’Connor’s Pub, Rookies and The Rook. In our younger days after going to the Legion or K of C for beverages, some would then go to the Tee Pee Restaurant or Perkin’s for a late night breakfast.

Over the years we have had a handful of 3rd generation sons/sons-in-law play occasionally making their papas quite proud. In 1994 Mike Chrapla was appointed (anointed?) Club Treasurer taking over the reins from Adolph Chrapla, who had been the Club’s only Treasurer up to that point.

During this timeframe we have maintained many, but not all, of our traditions that were spawned in our earlier years. Yes, we still have our “goofy” rules but we have fewer of them. For the most part we have sponsored a Winter Party (former Christmas Party) and a Summer Outing. Yes, we continue the January 1 volleyball game tradition, only with a new flare – sort of a pitch-in. The original FCVBA bible (Old Testament) containing rosters, speeches from the Awards Banquets and old pictures has been maintained, and a second volume (New Testament) has been created and updated with documents, rosters and memorabilia for the subsequent years. The “Nose Guard” jacket and the framed picture of “Vollus Ballus” still exist, but the whereabouts of the ornate necklace given to the recipient of the “Fighting Cock Super Star” award are unknown. Maintaining traditions is a tribute to our FCVBA founding fathers’ legacy and they would be proud of us “younger players”.

Some new social activities to build camaraderie have also been instituted in more recent years: monthly luncheons at truly local restaurants, and field trips to Butler University basketball games, Bonge’s Tavern, Indianapolis Indians baseball games, Mike Surak’s farm and probably other places I have now forgotten. We also developed a website at www.FCVBA.com. The website contains pictures of past parties and a video with a poorly sung version of our Fighting Cock anthem.

For those who have been in the Club for some length of time, it has been a fun and amazing journey on how FCVBA has evolved. As Bud Watts, our current most-tenured Fighting Cock, says: “All through the years, the FCVBA has been blessed with highly resourceful members who have demonstrated a relentless search for accommodations for our Wednesday night passion.” That’s the spirit that embodies our Fighting Cocks.
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And this is not the final chapter…
Mike Chrapla
July 20th, 2014