Joliet Central Still Determined Despite 51-Game Losing Streak

Losing isn’t easy, and no one knows that better than Joliet Central. For a moment at its Friday game against Sandburg High School, it appeared the team’s losing streak might have ended, according to the Chicago Tribune. Alas, it didn’t, which puts the team at 51 consecutively lost games.

For most teams, this would be unthinkable. But for Joliet Central, it’s a stepping stone to getting better. Every team wants to win, but for Joliet Central Head Coach Brett Boyter, a well-rounded player is just as important.

“As a coach I want to win, but it’s more about: ‘Are our guys getting better, not just as athletes but as people and as students and in the community?’” Boyter told the Chicago Tribune. “Not that I didn’t feel that way before, but I’ve just focused on that more. I believe if we can take care of those things, the results on the scoreboard are going to come. Slowly but surely, we’re taking care of those things, and eventually we’re going to start getting the results.”

According to the Tribune, the roots of the losing streak can be traced back to 1993, when the school district, in an effort to save money, merged the Joliet Central and Joliet West athletic teams into one program.

Students from both schools played, but since it was located at West, Central students faced long bus rides and became discouraged.

In 2008, a bond referendum raised $24 million for field houses at each school, according to the Tribune, and Joliet West and Central were again separated.

In between that time, Central saw a rise in Hispanic students, who cared more about soccer and less about football, meaning they typically didn’t try out for the team.

The students that do try out, though, do it for the love of the game. Included in that love, is the patience, determination and hope to see past the losing streak.

Central Senior Wide Receiver and Defensive Back Kamren Smith has played all four years of high school and still hasn’t lost his passion for the game.

“It’s just the emotions, the butterflies you get before kickoff, and then, after the first hit, it releases and you just feel amazing,” Smith told the Tribune. “It’s an excitement. It’s a power. It shows that you can do things other people aren’t able to do.”

And it hasn’t all been devastating loses. The Steelmen came close to winning a few games, according to the Tribune, but victory has remained elusive.

“They work hard,” prep recruiting blogger “Edgy Tim” O’Halloran told the Tribune. “What’s impressed me the most is that those kids never quit, and I can’t always say that about every program, especially those that go through that kind of losing streak.”