Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Louis Acevedo
Part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Sports Stories - IHSA Oral History project
Interview # SIH-A-L-2017-032
Louis Acevedo, Marie Curie High School football coach discusses his career and association with the IHSA, was interviewed on the date listed below as part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Illinois High School Association Oral History project.
Interview dates & location:
Date: Apr 24, 2017 Location: Woodridge, IL
Interview Format: Digital audio
Interviewer: Philip Pogue, ALPL volunteer
Transcript being processed.
Transcription by: _________________________
Edited by: _______________________________
Total Time: 1:51 / 1.85 hrs.
Accessioned into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Archives on July 10, 2017.
The interview is archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
© 2017 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Abstract
Louis Acevedo, Sports Stories-IHSA, SIH-A-L-2017-032
Biographical Information Overview of Interview: Louis Acevedo was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 9, 1951. He grew up in Chicago and graduated from Tuley (now Clemente) High School in 1970. Acevedo played four years of high school football and was captain of the team his senior year. He moved on to Northern Illinois University, earning a BS in physical education and health in 1974. Two years later, he earned an MS dregree in curriculum and physical education at University of Illinois-Chicago. Louis returned to Clemente High School where he coached football and soccer. Spending eight years there from 1974 to 1982, Louis then took a teaching and coaching position at Marie Curie High School, an open enrollment school which specialized in performing arts. Louis taught physical education, and served as the department chair at Curie for nine years. He coached football at Curie, and also coached basketball for seven years, including three years as head basketball coach. In 1993, he became the head football coach. In that position, he took Curie to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) playoffs four times. He also developed a weight program for Curie HS sports teams. After retiring from the Chicago Public Schools, Acevedo has served in a variety of training and conditioning hockey and lacrosse programs. Louis also wrote a history of the Chicago Public League, including the influence and prestige of the Prep Bowl, which pitted the champions of the Chicago Public League and the Chicago Catholic League, which in its glory days drew over 100,000 fans to Soldier Field.
Acevedo discusses the experiences of a Chicago HS athlete who returned to teach and coach in the Chicago Public League. He reviews some of the challenges existing in public league football, including budgeting, facilities limitations, feeder programs, finding and retaining assistant coaches, and the occasional fall teacher strikes. He discussed how football teams were assigned to divisions based on skill level (red, blue, green) or by stadium location. Other issues explored include the open enrollment schools and the state multiplier. Louis discussed football competition with the Catholic League schools, the rise of public league basketball, and the demise of Chicago city football tournaments as they were replaced by the state-wide IHSA tournament. Acevedo reflects on several of the great public league football players.
Subject Headings/Key Words: Illinois High School Association (IHSA); Marie Curie High School football; history of Chicago Public League football; relationship between the IHSA, Chicago Public League; Chicago City football tournament; Chicago Prep Bowl between the Chicago Catholic League and the Chicago Public League;
Note to the Reader: Readers of the oral history memoir should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word, and that the interviewer, interviewee and editor sought to preserve the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir, nor for the views expressed therein. We leave these for the reader to judge.
COPYRIGHT
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