There were not many Anaheim Union High School boys or girls as small as me in the school. We had four basketball teams. The bigger and older boys played on the varsity team. Smaller and younger guys played on the Bee team. The Cee team was even smaller students. Very small, young boys like myself were on the Dee team. All of the teams were organized with good coaches. We played against other high schools in Orange County.
During World War II, the Varsity team lacked its best players who had joined the armed forces. College teams were also lean on strong athletes because of the war effort. Men over eighteen who were not fighting were called four Fs. Some of the four Fs were good athletes. The Army kept them out because they had flat feet, poor eyesight, or hearing. Some had started a fire somewhere and were considered pyromaniacs. Some men were needed on the home front because they were farmers or because they did government jobs like making airplanes, bombs, etc. Some stayed home to take care of their families, especially if their families were in need. My father had six kids and the Navy refused to let him join up when he volunteered.
Our little Dee team had some excellent small athletes, and we became champions that year. I was second string, but I played enough to earn a letter A to hang on the wall or sew to a sweater. I couldn't afford a letterman sweater. My mom put the letters I earned in a little box and saved them all her life.
As champions of the Dee team, we were given small metal basketballs to wear on a neck chain. I gave mine away to a seventh grade girl as a symbol of special friendship. It meant little to her. She had lots of boyfriends and went steady with most of them. I wouldn't give her a ring to go steady because I had been told by a wiseman to keep girls guessing as a trick to make them like me.
During Christmas vacation the gym was kept open for those of us who enjoyed hanging out at the high school gym playing half court basketball or just practicing shooting the ball. We had a rather fat forty year old Mexican janitor who liked to play basketball. He handed out towels for the shower, passed out equipment, and made us wash our feet in chlorine water before we entered the showers.. One day he asked me if I would like to play a basketball game with him against Fullerton Junior College. I couldn't believe he wanted me to go because I was so little. He chose a team from those of us who practiced at the gym. He was able to get three varsity athletes, two Bee players and myself.
When we warmed up at the Fullerton Gym, people must have wondered about us. They saw only six of us including the forty year old fat janitor. They probably figured I had come from the sixth grade because of my size.
The game started with the Fullerton college men wearing their school colors. We wore gray practice shorts or bathing suits and tee shirts. A referee kept us playing fair. During the fourth quarter, we were behind a few points. Just before the end of the game, we got hot. Someone fouled me and the free throw was the only point I contributed. The rest of our team shot more points than Fullerton did. We won. The odd looking Anaheim High school team beat Fullerton Jr. College. It was unbelievable!