Small. They would tell us you had to be disciplined with good character and be a good student in your classes if you wanted to be a part of any of these activities. These were people who knew them, and after hearing that band every morning for nine years—six years in elementary school and three years in junior high school—the sound of that New Stanton Senior High School Band at parades was embedded in your psyche, body, soul, and spirit; you just couldn’t wait to graduate from junior high school and get to New Stanton Senior High School.
Everyone Had a Nickname
In the community of Jacksonville, Florida, we all grew up with one or two nicknames, and even sometimes you would get a third one.
Coach Small’s nickname was Bubbling. From my understanding, he was given that nickname by his neighborhood friends (as most of did). It was said that they were playing and tried to catch him, but he was so fast because he ran track, he outran them, so they gave him the nickname Bubbling. This name came from a horse that raced and won the 1926 Kentucky Derby. The horse’s name was Bubbling Over; therefore, he got the nickname Bubbling.
My nicknames were Boogie from the neighborhood and Boogie Down in tenth grade by senior quarterback Tracy Hodges. In the eleventh grade, Coach Small gave me another nickname, so I had three nicknames. Sometimes Coach Small would give some of his players nicknames and most of his students in his physical education classes and around school. He would call you Arra Papa or Kiddie or Bubba, and the girls he would just call them baby or daughter. He had great respect for women and girls, and especially Mrs. Lillian Small (his wife).
Coach Small gave me my third nickname of Stove Pipe. (I’ll explain it to you how I got that name, after you have purchased the book).
Helping Others to Be Successful
It was said that Coach Small helped many a coach get their football programs started, such as Coach Julian Walton of Northwestern Junior/Senior High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Coach Small gave some of his practice uniforms and equipment to Coach Walton to get his football program started. It was said by Coach Small to me that he got his practice uniforms from coaches of Robert E. Lee and Landon High Schools for an exchange of knowledge, not finances. He had to teach them a football formation called the Wing T.
Coach Small started the athlete program at Stanton in 1935, so he had an obligation to help someone else. (“If I can help someone along the way, then my living will not be in vain.”) So he told me to do the same thing once I am able to help someone along my journey as a person, a teacher, and a coach.
He got equipment and different colors of uniforms from two different high schools: Robert E. Lee High School and Landon High School (which is now a middle school). He told me about how he got started at Stanton, and he reminded me, “Always give back or help someone else.” He explained to me the deal he made with those high school coaches during his beginning. He agreed to teach them how to run the Single Wing Offense. This was an offense that teams knew how to use, so in return, they would give him equipment and practice uniforms. There was no money exchanged, only equipment and knowledge.
There was another time Coach Small showed his integrity and respect for other coaches for their accomplishments in the state of Florida, mainly in Duval County. There was a phone call from Coach Small to Coach Ray Moore, who was the head basketball coach of Andrew Jackson High School in 1971. Coach Ray Moore and I were both coaching at Edward H. White High School in 1972, and Coach Ray Moore told me, as he was preparing to play in the state basketball playoffs, he received a phone call from only one coach to encourage him to let him know who he was and saying to him, “We are all Jackson Tigers this weekend. Good luck!” That was the kind of man Coach Small was. He believed in supporting any coach and school that was representing the Jacksonville, Florida, community in any sport in playoffs.
Coach James P. “Bubbling” Small touched many lives in thirty-four years of coaching. As a student athlete, Coach Small played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track at Stanton High school from 1926 to 1929.
There was an article in the Florida Times Union Newspaper on March 6, 1966 titled “Recognition Given to Coach J. P. Small” by Vivienne E. Hicks.
He wrote,
Congratulations are in-order for Coach James P. Small, Head Director of the Physical Education Department at New Stanton High School, for exceptionally meritorious service in the Duval County Public School.” Mr. Small attended the public schools in this city, received this B.S. Degree in Physical Education at FAMC in 1933 (Now known as Florida A & M University). He did his graduate work at Ohio State University where he received his Master Degree. He began his teaching and coaching career at Franklin Elementary School which changed to Matthew W. Gilbert in 1933.
Coach Small was transferred to Stanton High School in 1934. During the first 10 years of his employment, he served as a regular teacher and coached all athletic activities at Stanton, namely, football, basketball, track and baseball. In additional to these assignments, Coach Small organized and instructed a drill team for girls, also worked with the cheerleader squad. He voluntarily organized the first band at Stanton and served as bandmaster for nine years without remuneration.
In recognition of Coach Small has been widespread. His excellent teaching and community relationship, that he was fortunate enough to secure uniforms and instruments for the band, which was the first Negro band to participate in the Governor’s Inaugural Parade.
In 1943, he assisted in the organization of Stanton’s Physical Education Department, under the principalship of F. J. Anderson. His service to the school and community included: Chairman and coach of the benefit bowl game to raise funds for the needy member of Curriculum Revision Committee of the county, representing Negro Schools in areas of Physical Education, organizer of the Florida Interscholastic Coaches Association, serving as president for five years, organizer of the All-Star games in football and basketball in the state, coach of the North Squad, and a member of many other organizations.
Some of his recognitions and awards he received were: Big 12 Conference “Coach of the Year,” “A Meritorious Award” in Athletics and Basketball; “FIAA J.B. Bragg’s Meritorious Award in Athletics,” “Civic Leader Award” in the State of Florida Times-Union Newspaper “Coach of the Year Award.
In 1965, he was honored by the New Stanton Administration and Students Body for “Outstanding Service as Teacher and Coach.” A testimony banquet was held at the George Washington Hotel for 22 years of “Humanitarian Service.”
He was a member in the NEA Florida State Teaches Association, National Health and Physical Education Association, Duval County Teachers Association, Duval County Classroom Association, The Florida Interscholastic Coaches Association, Florida Game Official Association, Duval Game Official Association, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the Westside Improvement League for the community.
He is not a Nobel Prize Winner, but deserves all the honors given to a Nobel Prize Winner, having coached some of the local high school coaches, namely Coach Earl Kitchings, Coach Nathaniel Washington, Coach John J. Coleman, Coach Ike Grayson, Coach Oscar Norman, Hillie Howard, Coach Edwin Lawson, Coach Wallace Rasberry, Coach Oliver Walker, Coach Melvin Crawford, Coach Jimmy Johnson, and me (Nathaniel Farley) just to name a few.
Coach Small also laid the foundation for Coach Acosta Kittles, Coach Hansel Tookes, Coach Robert Mungin and Coach Bobby Lane, all of them were employed at Florida A & M University, and all of them are retired.
Others who were coached under the leadership of Coach James P. “Bubbling”
