There was a time when junior high basketball was enormous in Chelsea, packing gyms for games that featured the best ninth grade players from Williams, Carter, and Shurtleff Schools.
Golden “Rico” Tyre Jr., who would go on to excel in three varsity sports at Chelsea High and earn All-Scholastic honors in basketball, remembers that, well, “golden” era in Chelsea sports history, very well.
In fact, Tyre said playing and becoming a starter for the Williams Junior High School ninth grade team was a goal throughout this childhood and helped develop a work ethic that he carried through a distinguished, three-decade career in the Chelsea Police Department, where he retired as a lieutenant. At Cary Park and on other outdoor courts throughout the city, Tyre worked hard to develop his skills, competing alongside childhood friends and future Williams School and CHS classmates such as Leo Robinson and Donald Lee – while also trying to match up with “older kids” at the park, like legendary athlete Donald Wolcott, who was Rico’s cousin and two years ahead of him in school.
“I met Rico in first grade – he was always a good student,” said Leo Robinson, the dean of Chelsea government as a former alderman and current city councilor. “Rico, Donald [Lee], and I went to Williams together all the way through Chelsea High School (Class of 1968).
A Rising Talent on the Chelsea Hoop Courts
The son of Golden Tyre Sr. – a former star quarterback in Missouri who moved to this area after serving his country during World War II – and Virginia Tyre – Rico became increasingly known for his athletic prowess after leading his Chelsea Little League Cubs team to a championship season.
“I was five years old when my family moved to Chelsea and I started school here,” recalled Rico, who enrolled at Williams for first grade. “I had an older sister, Elaine, who was a year ahead of me and a pretty good athlete herself, a younger sister, Gwendolyn (an academic superstar and athlete who graduated from Smith College and Northeaster Law School and would go on to become a judge) and a stepbrother, Skipper, whom my parents adopted as a child.”
Rico began playing sports at Cary Park in the shadow of the Mystic Bridge (now the Tobin Bridge).
“We used to play basketball, stickball, half-ball, everything at that park,” said Rico. “We’d go there in the winter and shovel the snow off the half-court. I had some great influences at the park like my cousin, Donald [Wolcott]. I remember when they had pick-up basketball games, they would pick the older kids first, and then they’d pick the best of the younger kids, and I wasn’t one of them.”
Determined to improve his game, Rico paid special attention to his rebounding and defense. “I wasn’t tall back then. I didn’t grow until my junior year in high school,” said Rico, who is 6 feet, 3 inches. “I did the things that some people didn’t want to do, like rebound and play defense.”
A Magical Season at Williams, Climaxed by a Trip to the Garden
Rico Tyre would become a force underneath the basket and on defense, so by the time ninth grade basketball rolled around, he was ready to make an impact. “He also had a nice little jump shot,” said Leo Robinson.
The 1965 season was simply magical for Rico and the Blue and White of Williams School.
“We had Leo [Robinson] at guard who would set up everybody with his incredible passes and could score. The other guard was Phil Harvey, who could shoot the lights out. Donald Lee liked to play outside and had size and skill. Joe Gilmore started alongside me at forward. Alan Harvey was our center. Richie Perry and Charlie Zerola came off the bench. Our coach was Paul Pedi, who was tremendous.”
The games against Shurtleff (who had outstanding players like Brad Prenney) and Carter were barnburners, with overflow crowds jamming into the old Chelsea High gym, Carter Junior High’s homecourt.
“They called the old Chelsea High gym, ‘The Bandbox,” recalled Leo Robinson. “When you sat on the bench, you had to be careful not to put your feet on the court. There were fans along the baselines, too.”
Williams swept their cross-city rivals that season, beating Shurtleff, 56-31, for the city championship and qualifying for the Eastern Mass. championship tournament – sort of a Tech Tourney for junior high teams.
Led by the scoring of Phil Harvey, the playmaking of Leo Robinson, and the defense and rebounding of Rico Tyre, Williams went on a tear in the EMass Tournament, defeating Beebe Junior High of Malden and Hingham. That set up a rematch with Shurtleff, with the winner advancing to the finals at the Boston Garden. Williams rallied to beat the Green and Gold of Shurtleff, 62-58, stamping its invitation to the Garden.
One can only imagine the thrill of being a ninth-grade basketball player at that time and having the opportunity to play on the same parquet court as the Boston Celtics, who had Bill Russell, Tom Sanders Tommy Heinsohn, Sam Jones, KC Jones, John Havlicek, and Larry Siegfried, and were winning NBA championships every year.
“It was the first time in my life that I when I walked out on that court, I was overwhelmed,” said Rico. “Just looking up at all the championship banners, I was truly in awe.”
“It was just incredible playing at the Garden,” said Leo Robinson, who later went on to play basketball at Burdett College. “We were all big Celtics fans. It’s one of my best memories.”
As for the game at the Garden itself, Williams Junior High lost in a high-scoring contest (72-59) to a Matignon team coached by former Boston [New England] Patriots player Artie Graham.
Starring at Chelsea High School
Rico Tyre played three varsity sports at Chelsea High School, eventually earning starting positions as a wide receiver and inside linebacker on the football team, a forward on the basketball team, and an outfielder and catcher on the baseball team. One of the highlights was beating archrival Everett, 23-8, in the Thanksgiving game. “Howie Glazer was a really good quarterback in my junior year, and we beat Everett at Chelsea Stadium,” said Rico. “Donald Robinson had a great game that day at running back.” In his senior season of basketball, Rico Tyre and Leo Robinson were the captains on a team coached by Fred Garabedian and Arnold Goodman. Tyre averaged 18 points and 15 rebounds that year, earning All-Scholastic recognition. “We played some really big schools like Somerville and New Bedford (who was a member of the GBL in the 1960s),” said Rico. He concluded his high school career as the starting catcher for coach Joe Bevere’s Red Devil baseball team after being the starting right fielder as a junior. Rico Tyre continued his athletic career at UMass Amherst, earning a spot at wide receiver for the Minutemen. “I played for a while, but I tore up knee, and that was the end of my football days,” he said. Still enthusiastic about sports after college, Rico played in the Chelsea YMHA Wild Animal League and the Chelsea Fast Pitch Softball League. His children, Golden “Eddie” Tyre (who is a police officer in New Hampshire), and Matthew Tyre, carried on the family tradition of excellence in sports at Wakefield High Schools, with Matthew continuing on in football at Merrimack. Today, Rico and his wife, Ellen, live in a beautiful home on a private way in Wakefield. Looking back, Rico Tyre said that playing sports at Williams and Chelsea High was an immensely positive experience in his life. “Sports kept me busy, focused, and out of trouble,” said Rico. “I have great memories that have stayed with me for many years.”