Modern Era

A new modern recreation center, the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Activities Center, was dedicated on May 19, 1972 and completed in August of that year. This facility, known today as the Apprentice Athletics Center, is the focal point for all athletic programs. Located on a six-acre site adjacent to the Company's engineering building, the 22,000 square-foot building includes a regulation basketball court, wrestling room, well-equipped strength training area, lockers, showers, equipment storage areas and administrative offices. Outdoor lighting enables evening as well as daytime activities on the football field, recognized as one of the best playing surfaces in the state. Since its beginning, the center's facilities and grounds have been well-maintained and continuously upgraded to meet the program's requirements.

Perhaps one of the biggest boosts to the Apprentice athletic programs was the appointment of Norm Snead as head football coach in 1977. A prominent local figure and a former National Football League player, Snead brought national attention to apprentice athletics. In one week in November 1977 both the Wall Street Journal and Newsday featured articles on Apprentice football. Succeeding Snead in the 1980s and 1990s were Phil Janaro and Paul Hoffmann, both with connections to William and Mary. Football was highly competitive in the 1980s and 1990s, posting season records of 8 and 1 and 8 and 2 in the highlight years.

In baseball, Doug Burroughs started the successful climb of Builder teams and his protégé, Bryan Cave, continued the winning tradition established by his former head coach. Beginning in 1975, and continuing through the 2002 season, the Builders won over 550 games. In 2005, catcher Darrell Taylor became the first Apprentice School athlete to earn national academic recognition through the College Sports Information Directors Association as he was named to the third team Academic All-American team.

Although it was a short-lived sport in the Apprentice program, tennis enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s. Under the coaching of Mike Flanagan and Bryan Kersey, both Apprentice alumni, the team competed well against Dixie Conference and Old Dominion Athletic Conference competition. The 1986 team completed a 15 and 1 season that included a dramatic win over Roanoke College, in which the Builders were clear underdogs.

Conference affiliation was embraced enthusiastically by Apprentice to provide opportunities for post-season tournament competition. In 1999 the School became a member of the National Small College Athletic Association in women's and men's basketball. This group later reorganized as the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Also in that same year, the wrestling program joined the National Collegiate Wrestling Association. In 2001, football became part of the Atlantic Central Football Conference. To support the growing national stature of Apprentice athletics, a Sports Information Director was hired. More coordinated and expanded coverage has resulted.

Men's and women's basketball teams achieved national rankings and championship successes at the beginning of the new millennium. Under the coaching of Karen Barefoot, former Division III star player for Christopher Newport University, the Lady Builders quickly achieved respectability and captured Apprentice's first national title in 2001 by winning the National Small College Athletic Association tournament. They repeated in 2002, winning the national tournament of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Not to be outdone by the ladies, the men's team garnered a national championship trophy in 2002.

The School's wrestling program thrived under the head coaching of Keith Mourlam (later named head coach at Virginia Tech) and won two major collegiate tournaments in addition to the State Division II and II Championship in 1993-1994. In 1999, after joining the National Collegiate Wrestling Association, the Apprentice grapplers finished second and third in their first two national tournaments and fielded several national champions.

The Apprentice School teams of today have achieved at levels higher than ever before. The School placed third overall (its best finish ever) in the Virginia Sports Information Directors' 2001-2002 rankings of Division II and III-level colleges and universities.

The Apprentice School has also played a role in revitalizing the Oyster Bowl, long an annual Norfolk fixture. In 1999 and 2000, the Builders tangled with Wesley College and Methodist College in the first two such "classics" played in Hampton. In 2002, the Builders took on national power Salisbury University and in 2005 they face Wesley College again.