Women play basketball, too

My family lived a block from the college gym, and I spent many nights sitting in the bleachers watching high school and college basketball games. I could hear the crowd roar from the back of our house. March Madness reminds me of those exciting nights sitting with my friends, eating buttered popcorn, cheering for our favorite players, and always hoping our team would win. But the players were all men.

I was surprised when my P.E. teacher, Miss Dahl, invited me to play on a basketball team my senior year at Hillsboro High School. Times were changing for women. This was the first women’s basketball team at H.H.S. By 1972, all U.S. schools receiving federal funds were legally required to offer women and men the same opportunities in sports.

I don’t remember if I understood the legal mandates of Title IX behind this invitation to play basketball, but my friends, Cheryl, Dena and I were pretty excited to play on a basketball team together in a gymnasium.

Cheryl, my best friend since kindergarten, and I already shot baskets after school in her backyard. Now we started practicing drills and learning plays with Coach Dahl and the team in the H.H.S. gymnasium. We even got new team uniforms to wear for our first game. I was # 24. That first season, the H.H.S. Trojans Women’s Basketball team played 6 games with neighboring rural high schools: 2 wins and 4 losses.

The photo below is of my friend Jenny Klauke Koll going for a lay-up.

I thought I was a good enough player, and it helped that I was tall. Each night after the game, I had so much adrenaline that it took hours to fall asleep. I had little experience playing a team sport. I have wondered what kind of player I could have been if I had started playing at a younger age. Like my niece, Ruth, who played basketball for the H.H.S. 25 years later; her team won two consecutive state championships in 1995 and 1996. She was a gifted player. Like my friend Jenny who was recruited to play basketball for the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame (1980 - 1984). She was another gifted player. She started playing on a team in 7th grade.

This is a photo of Jenny flying.

In 1972, the rows of seats in the gymnasium were mostly empty when we played our games, even for home games. No cheerleaders were there to support our team, only a few friends. Surely some parent came to watch us play. I remember a row of our male classmates attending one of our games. I don’t know if they were there to laugh at us or support us. The women’s basketball team just wasn’t take seriously. Yet.

I am proud of being on the first women’s basketball team at my high school. I am proud that I won the award for scoring the most free throws. I am proud of the letter I earned that year.

Last October, a record breaking audience of 55,646 watched Caitlin Clark and her team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, play college basketball. Clark is an amazing player and has tons of awards to prove it. In March, Clark became the all time leading scorer for both men and women NCAA Division 1.

I love to watch Caitlin play. She runs across the court radiating confidence and strength. She sinks those 3 pointers one after another with ease. So far this season, she has made over 162 three pointers. She plays the game in the zone - which to me means she plays from her heart. She’s a gifted player. Fifty years ago, it may not have happened.

Take it or leave it suggestion #14 - Support women in sports

My niece Ruth started playing basketball in first grade. She played on her first team team in sixth grade. Her H.H.S. team won the Kansas state high school basketball championships in 1995 and 1996.

The only photo I could find of me playing basketball. I am playing a game at a Catholic Worker retreat in the early 1990’s.

A shout out to my friend Julie who ran track in high school. This photo was taken between 1977 - 1978. She is another amazing athlete.