South Side High School prepares for Red and Blue extravaganza

South Side High School is amped up for its 108th annual Red and Blue extravaganza, a revered three-day tradition set to unfold Thursday through Saturday with nearly 300 high school girls poised to participate in this fierce, yet friendly competition as teams vie for victory and the chance to etch their names into school history books.

“Best wishes to all of our participants and parents,” Superintendent Matt Gaven said during the school board meeting on Feb. 1. “I’ve already started to see BTV and RTV signs sprouting up all over Rockville Centre.”

Gaven said that as the competition begins, he wants to remind participants that even during the competition, students are there to collaborate and support their classmates.

“We have days where Blue team members wear Red, and Red team members wear Blue, so that we’re reminded that we are not just identified by the color of our team,” Gaven elaborated. “And we want to remind everyone that Red and Blue was created to reinforce the values of teamwork and collaboration towards a goal.”

To help coordinate the event, the high school invited back two South Side alumni, Lisa Guerriero and Jenna Carey — both former Red team captains — as the co-directors of this year’s competition.

Prior to accepting the position Guerriero and Carey didn’t know each other, but over the past two years, have become very close friends.

As the directors of the Red and Blue meet, they will coordinate the entire event and are also the only two people who know every aspect of what will take place during the competition.

Guerriero graduated from South Side High School in 2000. She currently works as a physical education teacher at East Meadow High School.

Carey graduated in 2006 and currently works as a freelance TV producer. She previously worked on the ESPN docuseries “The Captain,” about Derek Jeter’s career with the New York Yankees.

The almost 300 participating students are split into two teams at random. The four captains — including Red team captains Maggie Miller and Sarah Tear, and Blue team captains Katherine Ahern and Ava Gallego — were selected based on a vote amongst students.

Guerriero said that there are certain qualities that they look for when determining who would make the ideal candidate.

“They are so hard working. They are so enthusiastic. They pour their heart and soul into red and blue,” she said. “They make sure that all the girls are included and feel welcomed. They encourage the underclassmen to get involved and it’s really just a group effort. Not only (between) the captain, but all the seniors and coordinators.”

Each team has two alumni advisers to coordinate practice times. Neither team is allowed to view the opponent’s strategies before the competition.

Once again, this year, Lauren Serling (SSHS class of 2007) and Joanna Zweben (SSHS class of 1990) have been working with the Red team to make sure their routines are ready for the start of the big event, while Christina Ferrara-Muter (SSHS class of 2003) and Margaret Kelly (SSHS class of 2003), have been helping the Blue team prepare for the meet.

The Red and Blue meet was created in 1917, at a time when girls’ sports were virtually unheard of, and through the years the tradition has evolved to keep up with the times.

In its earliest incarnations, the school hosted a mother/daughter banquet before the start of the meet, which featured a keynote speaker and a guest of honor. Eventually, that tradition was done away with in the 1980s, with the exception of a Captain’s Dinner, which continues to this day. The two captains of each of the Red and Blue teams host a special dinner with Rockville Centre officials before the event.

For many years, the winning team was presented with the Paul T. Wohlsen Red and Blue trophy, named after the former South Side Senior High School principal. It was introduced in 1938 as a tangible award presented to the captains of the winning team following the competition. Over the years, this tradition faded away.

The 108th annual Red and Blue meet begins Thursday with revue night, a formal evening where students get dressed up to sing songs and cheer each other on.

Each team selects a theme for their teams, which they emboss onto several painted posters that are presented during the revue night ceremony. The themes will also set the stage for the two teams’ upcoming dance competitions and skits.

Following the pageantry of revue night, the two teams will perform a series of skits featuring five dance routines, ranging from aerobic, disco, tap and jazz. Students will be judged by a panel that will give them a score based on their performances, costumes, props and tumbling.

The competition portion features three relay races and a floor hockey match on Friday, followed by three more relay races and a volleyball match on Saturday. Points are also awarded for organization, sportsmanship and attendance.

In the past 107 years of the competition, the Blue team has accumulated the most team victories, with 50, while the Red team has captured 44. There have been 11 ties.

Meaghan Healey, a physical education teacher, who ran the Red and Blue meet for 20 years, said that the school district has no data if there was an event in 1921.

Additional reporting by Danielle Schwab.