Girls basketball’s one-man booster club

• Forrest Krogh

Forrest Krogh almost never misses a Rosemount girls basketball game, home or away. And for many years now he’s been responsible for creating the team’s schedule posters and programs.

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There are a few things you can count on at a Rosemount High School girls basketball game. The court will always be 94 feet by 50 feet. The rim will always be 10 feet from the floor. And Forrest Krogh will probably be in the stands.

Krogh doesn’t remember exactly when he started going to girls basketball games at RHS, but it’s been at least 18 years. He remembers sitting in the stands for the 1991 season, when the Irish went undefeated before losing to Burnsville in the section championship game in Rochester.

Krogh can’t say exactly why he started attending the games, either. He raised two sons but never had a daughter. Neither of his boys played basketball. He doesn’t have any granddaughters and he’s never had a direct connection to anyone on the team.

Krogh started attending games when the Irish girls were good, he said, and he’s stuck with the team ever since.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “They’re very fun to watch. I usually try to follow the state tournament for girls, even though we haven’t been there for a few years.”

Over the years, Krogh has become a kind of one-man booster club for the team. Every November he gets the boys and girls schedules from the school and finds a sponsor to cover the cost of getting them printed. He puts together programs each year for the girls team and creates a separate program for senior night every winter.

Having lived in the city for 46 years, he never has much trouble finding sponsors.

RHS athletic director Mike Manning said Krogh worked out his program and schedule deals with the basketball coaches. He didn’t meet Krogh until about eight years ago. Now, Krogh stops in a couple of times a year to talk with Manning about what he’s working on.

“We’re so appreciative for the longstanding effort of all he’s done for promoting girls basketball and being such a loyal fan,” Manning said. “It’s one of the best things about being at Rosemount, having people in the community who care about the high school even though their kids are gone.”

Krogh enjoys boys basketball, but he finds the girls game more team-oriented. He knows a few of the girls on the team from church, and he enjoys watching them grow over the years. He attends almost all of the games each year, home or away.

“I just find it easier to follow them,” he said. “It seems like they always give 110 percent. I’m not saying the boys don’t, but I find it more interesting to follow (the girls).”

Krogh has been through plenty of ups and downs as an Irish girls basketball fan. There were some powerhouse teams in the early years of Krogh’s fandom and some lean years in the middle. Now, the team’s fortunes appear to be on the rise again. The Irish have started this season 5-1.

Krogh appears to be in with the team for the long haul. He’s already looking forward to next year, when the Lake Conference disbands.

“It’ll be interesting,” Krogh said. “I think it will be much more fair.”

Whatever the new conference looks like, it seems safe to say Krogh will be there to see it.

Tags: sports, lifestyle, news, seniors