LeRoy Sprankle (June 11, 1894 – September 25, 1972) was an American high school sports coach and athletics advocate in

Eastern Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 counti ...

and

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. Often referred to as the ''"Father of East Tennessee Sports"'', he had several notable accomplishments during his tenured career including: helping to standardize high school officiating in the state of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, pioneering interstate and international high school sports competition, and most notably, coaching several would-be prominent figures in

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and sports history.

Early life

Sprankle was born on June 11, 1894, in Beach City, Ohio. He was the older brother of Dale R. Sprankle, who would also become famous as a college athletics coach and athletics director in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. At the age of 16, his family moved to

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

, where he graduated from high school and first became involved in athletics. He then attended

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private liberal arts university in Alliance, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until 2019. It had an enrollment of 2,100 students as of 2023. Histo ...

and competed in baseball, basketball, and football while completing a degree in mathematics. In 1918 Sprankle was drafted into the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and served as a Second Lieutenant at

Camp Gordon Fort Gordon, formerly known as Fort Eisenhower and Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established southwest of Augusta, Georgia in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cy ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. After

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

, he resumed civilian life as the general manager of the Canton Independents professional basketball team. It was around this time that he became affiliated with the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Lea ...

professional football team and became good friends with several early football "legends", most notably

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

Coaching career

Following the conclusion of the

, there was a great demand for qualified coaches. Likewise, LeRoy Sprankle was quickly contacted by a high school in

Carrollton, Ohio Carrollton is a village in Carroll County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 3,087 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area. History The village was established as "Centreville" ...

, to coach its basketball team. Despite having to commute by train and lodge overnight twice a week in order to keep his Canton job, Sprankle accepted the position out of his interest for helping boys. His success there warranted him an offer to coach in

at Kingsport High School (which was later renamed

Dobyns-Bennett High School Dobyns-Bennett High School is a high school (grades 9–12) in Kingsport, Tennessee, United States. It typically educates around 2,400 students, although enrollment for the 2022–23 academic year exceeded 2,500 students. As a part of Kingsport ...

). In late 1921, he accepted the offer and became the head baseball, basketball, football, and track coach. While at

Kingsport Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, w ...

, he became known for taking a keen interest in helping his players and students, many of whom went on to become noted for their life achievements. Over the course of the ten seasons that Sprankle coached football at the school, he compiled an 80–38–9 record, including a 193–0 victory over Norton High School from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in 1926, one of the largest margins of victory in

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

at any level. His track team won 3 state championships in 11 years, and he amassed a 117–61 record in baseball. Most notably, Sprankle's basketball team was a pioneer in interstate competition. At a time when it was rare to play games out of state, his team traveled annually across the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and the rest of the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

. In 1940, as part of the annual Florida trip, his team played a series of exhibition games in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, one of the only high school sports teams ever to do so. Overall, Sprankle's basketball team at

went 401–142, winning 18 championships. In 1943, he and his family were forced to move to

for health-related reasons. Nevertheless, he continued to coach, at Redlands High School in south Dade County, until 1953 when the school combined with Homestead High School. While retired from coaching, he worked with the new South Dade High School as business manager until he completely retired in 1964. Sprankle died in

Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the United States, U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and ...

, in 1972 at the age of 78, he was survived by his wife Jess, and his children, Rita and Dale. At his funeral,

Bobby Dodd Robert Lee Dodd (November 11, 1908 – June 21, 1988) was an American college football player and coach, college baseball coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Georgia Tech from 1945 to 1966, compili ...

sent his remorse in a message that read:

Sprankle became a second father to me and to hundreds of others like me.... Yes, I believe that LeRoy Sprankle has had more influence on the lives of the young people of Kingsport than any other person. I am sure he did, and I will always be grateful for the help he gave me.

Since his death, the city of

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, ...

, has named a day in his honor. The gymnasium at the former

(now John Sevier Middle School) was also dedicated after him.

Notable players coached

Sprankle, LeRoy. "Appendix II". ''My Boys''. Ed. Jitney Blankenbecler. Kingsport, TN: Quebecor World, 2001. 171–207.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprankle, Leroy 1894 births 1972 deaths American men's basketball players Mount Union Purple Raiders baseball players Mount Union Purple Raiders football players Mount Union Purple Raiders men's basketball players High school baseball coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Ohio High school basketball coaches in Tennessee High school football coaches in Tennessee People from Beach City, Ohio Sportspeople from Stark County, Ohio Basketball players from Canton, Ohio