Athletic Programs at Dorchester Academy 1926-1940

Athletic Programs at Dorchester Academy 1926-1940. Dorchester Academy. Founding the athletic programs was considered one of Principal Elizabeth Moore's greatest achievements. School teams came to be known as the Dorchester Academy Tigers and Tigerettes, with "Shag" the tiger as their mascot. Dorchester Academy participated in it's first athletic event in 1926, a Savannah public school track meet. Basketball teams were organized that same year. The academy began to develop a football team in 1927 and a baseball team soon after. Boys' and girls' basketball teams both dominated the Southeast Georgia High School Athletic Conference during the 1932-1933 inaugural season. By 1935, both teams had won their third consecutive annual titles. In 1935 and 1936, the boys' team won the state basketball championship and was invited to play in the annual Southern Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament at the Tuskegee Institute. The girls' team was also invited to play in this tournament in 1936. Tennis was introduced in 1931 and a tennis club was founded in 1933. The tennis program was so successful that Dorchester Academy became a charter member of the Georgia State Tennis Association (GSTA) and by 1936 Dorchester Academy students were competing in international tennis tournaments. The school's tennis program was honored in 1938 when several nationally ranked tennis professionals played an exhibition match on campus. Most of the other stops were at colleges. The athletic programs at Dorchester Academy gave the students a feeling of pride in themselves and in what they could accomplish.