Art Baker still laughs at the memory of the first Richland Sertoma Sportsarama.

“The first year, we were scheduled to play the first quarter against, I think, Olympia,” said Baker, who was the Eau Claire coach in 1960. “We had gotten dressed at the school, got on our activities bus, and left in plenty of time, but it was such a big crowd that we got to Rosewood, and it was bumper to bumper. Finally, the bus had to go on the wrong side of the road because we were running late.

“We got to the stadium late, ran off the bus and onto the field. Olympia was already warmed up. The referee, Grady Ray, came to me a few minutes before 7 and said the game is supposed to begin at 7. I told him we weren’t ready. So he goes and consults with the other officials, comes back and says they’re going to kickoff at 7 p.m. I told him he could kickoff, but we weren’t going to be on the field for it and tried to explain about the traffic and how we needed to warm up.

“He goes out to the middle of the field, throws a flag, and penalizes us 15 yards before the game even started,” said Baker, who is retired and living in Blythewood. “And the whole night was supposed to be about sportsmanship.”

While Baker remembers the penalty, the key to that story was the traffic— and the huge crowd that came with it to City Schools Stadium (Memorial Stadium).

“None of the club members knew if the Sportsarama would be a success,” said Jack Sterne, who has served as the event chairperson for 28 years. “They sat in wonderment as they watched the line of cars coming down South Holly Street. This thing was going to work.”

Fifty years later, the thing continues to work.

“It’s a great beginning to the football season for fans, and the coaches like it because they can dress out and get some of the kinks out before the season— have the kids get some of the butterflies out,” said Rosser Thrash, one of the club members who helped organize the 1960 game.

In hindsight, success seems obvious.

“Everyone came at the beginning and stayed through the end,” Baker recalled. “Everyone wanted to see how all the teams looked. It was kind of a preview of the season. In those days, there were only eight or so teams in the city, and everyone in Columbia played everyone else. At Eau Claire, we traveled to North Augusta, Orangeburg, and Camden, but the rest of the schedule was in town, so everyone played each other. The Sportsarama scheduled the teams that wouldn’t face each other or wouldn’t face each other early in the season. Plus, it was new and exciting.”

That first year the participants included Dent (the forerunner to Richland Northeast), Olympia, Dreher, Eau Claire, Columbia, and, in the program’s inaugural season, A.C. Flora. This year’s field consists of the seven District I programs plus, in a nod to history, Richland Northeast.

The success of the event led others to copy the concept.

An identical event in Charleston began in 1970, sponsored by that city’s Sertoma Club. Events have popped up in Rock Hill, Aiken, Lexington, and Irmo, among others. Many continue around the state to this day.

Over the years, the Richland event has evolved as well; the on and off–field activities have expanded and contracted to adjust to changing times.

An annual Miss Sportsarama and her court have been crowned since the second year, and, for a time during the 1980s, the young women were featured in an annual fall fashion show at The Township Auditorium. Local car dealers provided convertibles to deliver the queen and her court to both the show and the Sportsarama.

For a time during the early years, a tea was held for the cheerleaders. In the 90s, cheer–offs were held at the parking garage of the Richland Mall. Spirit awards were given for the most energetic cheerleading squad and fan base during the Sportsarama. To this day, fans are grouped by school in the stadium.

The Mr. Sportsarama recognition was started in 1990 at the suggestion of a female Sertoma Club member.

The game was played at Williams–Brice for a few years. And, one year, the event was expanded to include three sites—an experiment the club chose not to repeat. As many as 12 teams have participated in a given year and as few as six. For the past 15 years, the event has settled into its present eight–team, four–quarter format.

Though the program has been delayed or interrupted by rain on more than one occasion, only once has the event been cancelled—and that was because of heat in 2007.

Through 50 years of changes, however, only one thing has endured: Baker’s Eau Claire squad remains the only team penalized for being late.