GLOVERSVILLE — They don’t wear helmets and pads or carry baseball bats, but whether dressed as ’80s rock stars or as soccer hooligans, they are rarely pushed around.

The Gloversville High School Masterminds Team, competing in the 30-school Capital Region league, not only made the playoffs this spring, they finished second. Guilderland won, but only after losing to Gloversville in their first match.

The Gloversville Board of Education commended the team this week and its coach, social studies teacher Len Martin.

Two players on the team, Captain Matt Millington and Cristin White, were named to the four-member all-tournament team.

Masterminds is the successor to the old “Answers Please” tournament program, a high school version of “College Bowl.”

“They’re wonderful kids,” said Martin, adding, “They’re very bright.”

These bright teens on the Gloversville team, Martin relates, have developed a reputation for more than their knowledge. They customarily arrive at tournaments in costume. That has involved participating as ’80s rockers and soccer hooligans, wearing wild hats and dressing to a theme they called “Beauty and the Geek.” Martin explains, “They’re very, very creative.”

Academic achievements are often overlooked when it comes to the Gloversville school system, which for the past several years has been somewhat stigmatized by having its middle school listed by the state as a school in need of improvement, school officials said. The general public usually fails to notice that the middle school designation arose from the test results of special education students, school officials noted.

What the public rarely hears about is the extensive college credit and Advanced Placement curriculum that Martin said is the basis of his team’s success.

“We practice,” said Martin, “but winning is also a function of the academic curriculum.”

Martin said a quarter of the senior class took the AP exam this year in history.

“The most ambitious kids can graduate with 30 college credits,” he said, enough to enter college as sophomores.

There is also “Project Lead the Way,” a preparatory program for students planning on majoring in engineering.

With college courses offered through Syracuse University and the University at Albany, Superintendent Robert DeLilli said, Gloversville is among the leaders in offering college and advanced study opportunities.

“You’re getting a good college education right here, without even leaving the school,” said DeLilli.

He said the college level courses are only possible because participating faculty members completed the additional academic requirements and training to qualify to teach at that level.

Martin said he immediately thought of that curriculum when someone at a tournament felt compelled to ask how a Gloversville player happened to know an arcane fact about President Millard Fillmore.

There are 14 students on the team. Martin fields a varsity and junior varsity squad. While the varsity was vying for the big trophy this year, the JVs finished their season 10-1.

The goal every year is to make the 15-team playoffs, Martin said. Last year, Gloversville finished seventh.

Millington, a three-year veteran on the team, acknowledged Wednesday they he has benefitted from Gloversville’s college level and AP curriculum. He admits to being a good trivia player and said he has an ability to recall the information. He said he enjoys putting that knowledge to use in competition.

“It always feels good to beat the bigger schools,” he said.

Millington will be applying his knowledge in a more formal setting this fall. He is enrolled in the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and will study pharmaceutical chemistry.

Behind Millington and White, the members this year were Tyler Horton, Jim Bielli, Sarah Albanese, Brian Nellis, Dan Snyder, Eric Schultz, Troy Tortora, Dustin Watson, Troy Kirk, Stephanie White, Rachael Clark and Autumn Carey.