OREGON CITY, Ore. - The story has become the stuff of legend.
Thirty-two years ago,
Oregon City (Ore.) High School coaches Carl Tinsley and Brad Smith wanted to keep their team playing girls basketball in the summer. They convinced seven other coaches to sign up, and the first End of the Oregon Trail Tournament was ready to go.
"We were trying to compete with summer softball," said Tinsley. "We wanted to give trophies like they did in softball."
Photo courtesy of Oregon City High School
Oregon City, led by future Stanford
star Lindsey Yamasaki, won its third
of three mythical national
championships in 1997.
This week, 221 teams are gathered just south of Portland in year 32 of the End of the Oregon Trail, and it's become one of the premier events on the summer recruiting circuit.
And in fact, it's not the end of anything -- it's really the beginning. It's the first big event on the recruiting whirl.
"It's first," said Tamara Inouye, now an assistant at New Mexico State but who also played here with a club team from Southern California. "Everyone's all excited, and you can catch up with everything. It also gives us a sense of where we want to go the rest of the summer, and what teams to follow."
"It's a great one to start with," said Scott Davis, now the coach at
Branson (Ross, Calif.) in the San Francisco Bay Area but formerly a college coach at Cal Poly Pomona and Dominican. "All the gyms are in pockets, and one coach can cover five courts.
"Head coaches stay here (at Oregon City High School) – assistants do most of the chasing. Then they meet at night and say to the head coach, ‘This is who you need to see'."
Just as important as its slot on the calendar, though, is its organization.
"It's always been well-run," Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said. "This is where all the talent comes."
Well, these days, at least the West Coast talent. Back in day, when the economy was booming and travel money was easier to come by, clubs from all over the country would send multiple teams to Oregon City.
"Travel costs are such an issue now," Davis said. "But Exodus (out of New York City) and the Philadelphia Belles would always come, and it was great from a fan's standpoint."
But that doesn't mean no one is here from the East Coast. There are a lot of West Coast girls who wouldn't mind spending their college days back East, so coaches like Jan Wedo of Sacred Heart in Connecticut make the End of the Oregon Trail their one-stop shopping for Left Coast talent.
"I see all the kids I need to see right here," said Wedo, "and more."
In the early days, though Tinsley and Smith were just focused on putting on a nice little event.
"I told everyone I would never go over 64 teams," Tinsley said.
But that didn't last.
The tournament has grown steadily, though Tinsley doesn't see it going much more than the 222 teams he had lined up for this summer (one team eventually dropped out).
One reason for the growth?
"We're different," said Tinsley.
For example, he doesn't do pool play – only bracket play, and he's happy with seven 32-team brackets.
"I'm still pretty old school," he said. "I don't use credit cards."
But he also has lots of help.
He and Smith are still there every day, accessible to everyone, and their wives still put together the coaches' packets. Relatives, former students and former players slip into the same roles every year, and even the farflung gyms are manned by familiar faces.
"Tins knows everybody," said Smith. "He's kept the family feel even with 200 teams. He knows every person who runs every gym."
And some of those gyms carry a lot of history, especially the old court on the old Oregon City campus.
"I love that gym" said Graves, who used to attend as a coach at Portland and St. Mary's before Gonzaga. "I was there today and a guy and I were saying ‘How many great players have we seen in this gym?' "
The simple answer: A lot.
Maybe the first great player at the End of the Oregon Trail was Katy Steding back in the ‘70s, but the parade hasn't stopped since.
Kate Starbird and Lindsey Yamasaki went to join Steding at Stanford, but they've all come through. Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker, Candice Wiggins, Maya Moore … the list goes on.
And that list will continue to go on, even though, like almost all tournaments, the End of the Oregon Trail has become more regional. "We don't get the East Coast teams like we used to," said Tinsley. "There are just so many tournaments."
But there will only be one End of the Oregon Trail, and though it's first on the calendar, and was the first big one on the West Coast, it's survived and thrived for more important reasons.
"I've been doing it for 32 years," said Tinsley. "It's my baby. I've invested a lot of time, energy and pride."
But Smith knows the real reason 200 teams keep coming back, year after year, despite competition from other events and rising costs.
"Everything here," he said, "is still family."
MaxPreps girls basketball expert Clay Kallam is in Oregon City all week and will offer a review of players on Saturday.