The Roosevelt Teddies were one of the original members of the Big 6 Athletic League (formed in 1930). Steele, Stivers, Kiser, Fairview and Chaminade were the other five members of the newly formed league. When Roosevelt opened in 1923, the West Dayton neighborhood was predominantly a white ethnic community. At the time, the facilities in the school were segregated in many ways including separate swimming pools and cafeterias. A limited number of blacks were allowed to participate on the athletic teams. For example, blacks were allowed to participate on the football and track teams in the late 1920's but not on the basketball team until the mid 1930's. When the decision was made to allow blacks to participate on the basketball team, it came with a stipulation from school administrators that no more than two blacks could be on the team at the same time. Ironically, that's all it took as Al Tucker (one of the black players) played a major role in help leading Roosevelt to the school's first State Championship in 1934 (making Roosevelt only the second school from the Dayton City League to win a State Basketball Championship. The team was coached by Paul "Putty" Nelson who was in the early stages of a long and successful career at Roosevelt. He coached both the Boys Basketball and Football Teams. After the population explosion following World War II, the racial demographics of Roosevelt High School changed dramatically. As a result, the athletic teams became more integrated and the accomplishments of the teams and individual athletes grew expeditiously. Between 1950-1962, the football program won six and the basketball program eight City League Championships (including six straight). In 1954, Coach Floyd "Dude" Norman Boys Track Team broke the dominant streak of seven straight City Titles held by league rival Dunbar. During this same period, Coach John Woolums was putting together strong teams year after year winning city titles in 1952 and 1954 before launching a string of six straight from (1957-62). Many faithful followers, felt the 1954 team was the Teddies most Talented team of all times. The team led by Norman Lee, Uriah Holland and Anthony Steele had difficulties defeating the Middletown Middies led by Jerry Lucas. The Teddies proudly captured back-to-back State Championship Titles in 1960 (Boys Basketball) and 1961 (Boys Track). Despite being one of few teams in state history to finish with a perfect (27-0) record and four straight City League Titles, and coached by legendary coach John Woolums, many considered this team as the forgotten team from Dayton. The team was led by Ray Brown (Ohio Class AA Player of the Year), multi-talented L.C.Snow, John Henderson, Buford Davis and John She-hee (the elusive 5-11 dribbling whiz) who triggered the fast break that delighted the Roosevelt fans. The talented Teddies opened the Regional Tournament in a blaze at the Cincinnati Gardens by destroying the Middletown Middies by a score of (95-63). It was the most points ever scored against a Paul Walker-coached team. At the time, Walker was the winning-est high school coach in Ohio history, and his Middies had been tormenting the Teddies throughout the 1950s. In the Regional Final Game, Roosevelt was matched up against Cincinnati Western Hills. Western Hills attempted to slow the pace, but the Teddies would prevail with a (66-58) victory. The win made Roosevelt the first Dayton City League Team to make it to the state tournament since Fairview got there in 1939 and 1940. In the state semi-finals game, foul problems came close to thwarting the Teddies in their battle against Toledo Scott, but they hung on to win (62-58). The win sent Roosevelt into the championship game against Cleveland East Tech, which had won the tournament the two previous years and was bidding to match the Stivers run of three straight titles 30 years earlier. It was the first time all year that Roosevelt was faced against a taller front line. The Teddies held their own on the boards and defeated Cleveland East Tech (59-49) to win the school’s second Boys Basketball State Championship. Ray Brown led the team in scoring with (20 points) and was voted Tournament MVP. That same year, Coach Floyd "Dude" Norman Boys Track Team edged out Cleveland East Tech (27 to 24) to win the school's first State Championship Track Title. John Henderson, a member of both state championship teams, went on to have a successful collegiate and professional carreer. He earned two letters for football and two in track in the two years from the University of Michigan. Also during his time at Michigan, he was the team’s starting wide receiver and caught a total of 58 passes for a total of 707 yards earning All-Big Ten honors and he also won the Big Ten silver medal in the High Hurdles and anchored the gold medal winning shuttle hurdles relay team at the Penn Relays. He was selected in the 1965 NFL/AFL drafts, Round 5 (sixty-third overall pick) by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL draft and in Round 17 (136^th overall pick) by the Buffalo Bills in the AFL draft. He was the starting wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings 1969 NFL championship team in addition to the 1970 Super Bowl IV game where he caught a record number of 7 passes for 111 yards. The Boys Track Team under the direction of Coach Don Mitchell would repeat their feat by winning the school's fourth and final State Championship ten years later. The 1971 Team was led by All-American Jeff Parks who won three events in the state meet (the high and low hurdles as well as the long jump). Roosevelt finished second in the state meet in 1972 when John Rudd captured the trophy and blue ribbon in the 120 high hurdles and ran on the winning 400 meters and mile relay team. In 1975, Mike Haley's Boys Basketball Team won the school's final City League Title (just before an unexpected announcemtn by the Dayton School Board that the school would be closing at the end of the 1975 school year. With the closing of Roosevelt, the majority of athletes and students followed their coaches, Tom "Groundhog" Montgomery (Football), Mike Haley (Basketball) and Don Mitchell (Track) over to Roth and won Class AA State Championship Titles in Basketball and Track the following year (1976). Overall, the Teddies captured (4) State Championships, along with (9) Football and (18) Basketball City League Titles. It is also particularly important to note that the school produced several successful & distinguished alumni, faculty, staff, athletes and coaches. Undoubtedly, the most accomplished feat of the Roosevelt Athletic Program was its 1960 Boys Basketball State Championship Team that finished with a perfect (27-0) undefeated season.