HERE WE ARE AT 50 Continued from previous page Springfield Student from Nov. 15, 1963
Birthplace of Basketball having played the game interscholastically, only to find it—and all other varsity sports—unavailable, here or most anyplace else. “It was a totally different culture,” recalls Potter,
who had played basketball and softball for high school teams in Holliston, Mass., before arriving on campus in 1953. Mimi Murray ’61, g’67, who—like Potter—
would become a transformative athletic presence at Springfield, enrolled four years later. She came from Summit, N.J., where she had thrived on high school teams in field hockey, basketball, and softball. She recalls donning a hat and white gloves to attend a tea at the longmeadow home of Ruth Evans, head of the women’s physical education program at Springfield College. Bubbling with the enthusiasm that remains her
defining characteristic as a faculty member all these years later, Murray said, “When does hockey practice start?” Evans, a product of her times who had ushered a
number of women into what were then considered the proper physical education paths, replied, “My dear, we don’t believe in intercollegiate athletics for girls at Springfield College.” Murray was devastated. “I almost went home,”
she recalled. “I really did. But I knew my mother—and my father —would kill me. It was terrible. I was so disheartened.” Those were the times, though. It’s not like college
sports for women were widely available around the region, or even around the country, other than in a few outlying (and truthfully visionary) institutions. Other than in-house participation through the Women’s
Recreation Association and the “sports-lite” version of athletics available through the Play Days, some Springfield athletes
sought competition outside of college. Club teams, some of them with Amateur Athletic union (AAu) affiliation, provided an outlet for elite athletes. Some Springfield women played basketball in company-sponsored “Industrial leagues”—but not without risk. “That we did keep under wraps,” recalls Potter. “We
had to use assumed names and everything else. In that day and age, that could have been cause for us being booted (out of college).” Potter recalls a basketball player named lucille
kyvallos ’55, who was particularly talented. “She could have played on the men’s team,” Potter insists. “She could’ve. She was outstanding.” “Even Ed Steitz, g’48, DPE ’63, (former athletic
director and basketball coach) said she was the best basketball player, male or female, who ever came to Springfield,” adds Murray. “She would have to have someone go with her (to the Industrial league games downtown) and stand at the door of the gym. If somebody from the College came, they would tell her, and she would leave the floor.” Even amid such an atmosphere, the seeds of
progress were being sown on campus, well ahead of the curve of Title IX, which would not be enacted until 1972. The minutes of the meetings of the Women’s Athletic Association (WAA) Board indicate significant activity as early as the spring of 1953: Managers of softball, volleyball, and tennis will be responsible for contacting referees, linesmen, etc…Practices for intramural teams and the setting up of a badminton tournament by Barbara Dawes was discussed. The College’s 1963 W.A.A. Handbook provides
a look back and a hint of huge changes to follow: In September, 1951, when the first class of girls
entered Springfield College, it was felt there was a need for an organiza- tion of the intramural activities…
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TRIANGLE 3 Vol .Vol. 84
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