A Tour of the Trophy Case…
January 26, 2019
The window is vast and crowded and unmistakable, bursting with pride.
Cherry Hill High School East’s main trophy case is situated directly across from the student entrance, marking an unmistakable first impression for dozens of sleepy students, waiting parents, and visiting athletes every day. Since East opened in the early 1970s, a wide range of athletic achievements have been immortalized in gold-plated steel and sleek wooden frames and housed in the main case, creating an intense display.
Drama awards and towering glass plaques toted home from band festivals flank the walls of D-Wing, esoteric NFL memorabilia and stainless steel rooks from old chess tournaments stand sentinel beside the A-Wing doors. The back half of a little storage room beneath the stairs in the DiBart gym houses yet another trove of older trophies, mainly swim team sectional plaques with a few dusty dance trophies, little gold figurines cracked and askew atop their podiums. And yet, even with the separation of East’s various athletic awards into these extra categories, the main trophy case remains packed at best and overwhelming at worst.
The next time you’re out in front of the trophy case, stop for a minute and look at what has been chosen to go on display to students and strangers alike. Notice the place of reverence left for the ever-absent East-West homecoming game Boot trophy, for instance, while thousands of other existing statuettes molder beneath DiBart. Check out that giant memorial softball tournament plaque in the back corner that looks as if it weighs more than the average freshman. Notice how impressive regional, sectional and collegiate titles share space evenly with individualized student achievements, personal records drawn onto footballs and basketballs and turned into awards in their own right.
In the meantime, though, Eastside has compiled a tour of the trophy case, highlighting some of its major awards, its biggest names, and what East’s trophy collection can tell us about the most successful sports through the year. Browse through the graphics below to learn more.