By: Tommy Trojan
It is an often common fate for some of sports greatest athletes. Barry Sanders and Gary Payton immediately come to mind when talking about sports heroes who have been struck by the bad luck of playing for porous franchises. Chad Staradumsky’s athletic career seemed to be on that same path.
Nestled in the middle of scenic Brunswick County, North Carolina is Staradumsky’s hometown of Winnabow. Call it bad luck, but the Staradumsky family resided in the South Brunswick school district. For all intensive purposes, South Brunswick High School was “athletic hell”. To make matters worse, twenty five miles south on Highway 17 was “heaven”.
The South Brunswick-West Brunswick rivalry is the Carolina-State of Southeastern North Carolina. Like the Wolfpack, the Cougars have had their moments (1989 State Baseball Champions). But destiny has not been a friend of the navy and columbia blue. Its color of preference has been Green and Gold.
West Brunswick has dominated the athletic landscape in Brunswick County for two decades. A cradle of some of North Carolina’s best high school coaches and players, the Trojans were the program of the decade in football during the 1990’s and have since became a baseball juggernaut under legendary coach Mike Alderson. If Shallotte (home of WBHS) is the “mecca” then Boiling Springs Lakes is merely a Canadian province.
Metaphorically, Staradumsky has finally left Canada and landed in French Lick. Now a junior at East Carolina, the former flame throwing reliever from the Cougar baseball team is now a contributing forward for the 8th ranked French Lick Legends of the ECU Intramural Basketball League.
“It feels good to be a part of a winner.” said Staradumsky. “We were always good but not great. To be a part of a top ten program means so much to me.”
The FLL’s currently possess a 1-0 record after a dominating performance against G2 Thursday night in the ECU Rec Center. Staradumsky started at the Small Forward spot while former West Brunswick athlete Brett Hickman anchored down the point guard spot. Hickman insists that despite the rivalry in high school, he and Staradumsky are friends and there are no hostilities between the two.
“Chad is a good friend of mine. In spite of what people think, WBHS people don’t hate SBHS people. It is hard to dislike someone you beat with such regularity.”
Hickman went on to explain why he believes the Trojans have denied the Cougars success on the gridiron, hardwood, and diamond.
“The problem with South Brunswick High School athletics is that the school and community places too much emphasis on academics , hanging out in beautiful Southport, and visiting Oak Island. Conversely, the citizens of greater Shallotte love their football, basketball, and baseball and care very little about the ‘student’ in ‘student-athlete‘. I think South has transitioned more into that mindset the last few years. Consequently, they have started to beat us because people in our community started caring about kids grades and that other garbage.”
Staradumsky pointed out that South Brunswick did beat the Trojans during Hickman’s senior year in baseball to open the ‘04 campaign. He was also quick to note that the Cougars went on to capture an Easter Tournament Championship on Trojan field during their run to the state playoffs. However, as Hickman was quick to point out, the Trojans responded by beating down the Cougars in the next performance and finished the season with a championship a little bigger than the Beach Diamond Invitational. The ‘04 Trojans went on to win the North Carolina 3A State Championship.
The past behind them, Hickman and Staradumsky should each play integral roles for the FLL’s in what is destined to be the teams best season in history. For Staradumsky it is one last shot at being great. For Hickman, its high school all over again.
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