While Galesburg HS offered girls tennis from 1930-1949, the start of an entire girls sports program came in the 1970’s. In 1971-2, Galesburg formed an interscholastic basketball team with a schedule of just two games. Before they could play, the IHSA announced that interscholastic basketball was prohibited in Illinois schools.
The program of sports started in 1972-3 with field hockey, volleyball, badminton, bowling, basketball, softball, track, and golf. The IHSA offered championships in only track and bowling.
There was much excitement getting started sports, and the early girls teams had great successes. The first two basketball teams went undefeated, the 1975 and 1976 golf teams both took third in State, the field hockey team took third in State in ‘75 and made the Elite 8 in ‘76, and the tennis team in ‘79 and ‘80 took fourth and fifth in State.
Not everything was joyful for athletes in the ‘70’s. Athletes sometimes had to practice in grade schools, they had very limited schedules, limited funding, limited media attention, and sparse crowds.
I have put together a list of early highlights of girls sports, and I asked six female athletes from the ‘70’s to share the joys and the frustrations of being the first female athletes at GHS. Here are their memories…
“It provided a college education.”
Barb Knapp Lindquist- GHS Class of 1976
My older sister didn't have the same opportunities that I had, she was GHS class of '73. She always let me know how lucky I was.
In those first years, every school was starting with the same disadvantages, mostly we didn't have anything to compare to. We weren’t even thinking about the disadvantages at that point. We were all just happy to be participating.
I was involved all year long with sports. It was a big deal for me, it gave me purpose.
I went out for basketball first and making the team was HUGE for me. I finally found a place I felt I belonged. Coach asked me to try out for Field Hockey, and that led to college.
I will always look back on playing sports in high school as a wonderful time. As far as pride, being a pioneer, not sure I see myself that way. We were a bunch of girls that wanted to play ball. Just a few years before, girls didn't have the same opportunity that we did. We were grateful. For me Field Hockey provided a college education.
I think playing in sports taught me that hard work always pays. You look at where your skill lacks and dig in and figure out how to improve. And the fact that you have a team striving towards the same goals as you have makes it even more satisfying when you succeed. Sport analogies don't always work in life, but they definitely give you a starting point to work with.
There was not as many games scheduled for the girls sports as there were for the boys sports. The biggest difference was facilities made available for the girls. The girls basketball team practiced in the Hitchcock gym, we all learned where the dead spots were in the floor. Then playing at the GHS gym for games was entirely different.
Played softball our teams were not as successful as other schools, as it seems other communities had organized programs outside of the school framework. I did join a summer traveling team, as others did, but we always felt we were behind. No t-ball and little league for girls back then. Boys definitely had early development programs that were not available for girls.
I guess I look at where women's sports are today and am thankful that girls are being given the tools at a young age to follow their dreams, whether it be playing on a summer team, high school and/or beyond.
Not only in sports, but in all fields of interest/study, gender should not be a road block.
“I have been told I was the first recruited female athlete at Knox.”
Debbie DeGraff- GHS Class of 1976
Sports was a joy, absolutely! It was so much fun and so rewarding that I think most of us focused on the positives of the opportunity and did not dwell on the second-class treatment.
I do feel that pride in retrospect. At the time, I did not think much about the pioneering aspect of what we were doing. I was totally focused on playing! Playing organized sports, and being successful in those pursuits (both at GHS and Knox), helped me to become more self-confident in general, with benefits for all parts of my life.
In addition, those experiences instilled in me an appreciation for physical fitness that has served me well (despite the damage to my hips from all the running and jumping!). I also greatly value the life-long friendships that formed with some of my teammates.
Lastly, a very important consequence for me of playing sports at GHS is that it made it possible for me to attend Knox College, which was truly a life changing experience. Plans had been made for me to attend one of the large state universities. Not only would I not have been able to play competitive sports at the university level, it also would not have been as good a match for me as Knox for other reasons.
Al Reilly, who was the head football coach at Knox, had recently been tasked with also coaching the fledgling women’s basketball team. Fortunately, he knew my parents and, thus, knew of my academic and athletic accomplishments at GHS. He approached my parents about me attending Knox; they told him that would be great but Knox was too expensive for us. He arranged for meetings with the college’s admission and financial aid staff, and within a few days I was headed to Knox! I have been told that I was the first recruited female athlete at Knox (I don’t know if that is true).
I was welcomed in the fall by Michel Loomis, the volleyball coach, who immediately made me feel like I belonged. She remains a dear friend. Without the mentoring and support I received from professors and coaches who knew me well, I would never have found my way to the career path that has been so interesting and rewarding.
I don’t remember experiencing hostility or negative comments. However, there was little interest in or support of girls’ high school athletics from members of the community (school or town) unless directly involved through their daughters or friends.
There were also notable differences in resources, such as having to hold most of our volleyball and basketball practices at an elementary school rather than in the high school gym because the boys’ teams had priority.
I felt better supported by the community as an athlete at Knox. I don’t know whether this was due to it being a residential community and, thus, closer knit, or due to the passage of time, or for some other reason. And the women’s teams at Knox that used the gym had equal access to it for practice as the men’s teams, though we were probably still relatively under-resourced in other respects.
“…the more I think about these memories, the more important I realize they are to me.”
Ann Conover- GHS Class of 1976
As far as being a girl athlete in the 1970s, we didn't have a lot of expectations, because we didn't think to question what the boys had, and that they got to do so much more.
When Title 9 was coming, my sister and I carried a banner, and we walked in a parade that was pushing for Title 9 to be passed. I have a photograph of us carrying this banner for Title 9.
My mom was extremely supportive. Pat (my sister) and I being in sports, and, all my brothers were in sports. It was just taken for granted that if we liked sports, we would be in them as well.
At school, the women athletes were certainly not as celebrated as the male athletes. Very few people came to our basketball games or our field hockey games. Mostly it was family and a few friends. As far as what we were as athletes, how we were recognized as athletes, that was a big deal. When we would be recognized in the school paper and people would comment on it, that was important.
It was very important we had leather jackets. We would have a pin to put on our leather jacket. People would recognize that we were in athletics when we wore those around the school.
I remember uniforms being really important and feeling special as being part of a team and getting to put on whatever uniform we wore for that particular sport.
I became friends with a lot of my teammates, and we really did work well together, and in the heat of a game, we talked to each other and encouraged each other. We became close, at least during the games.
As part of girls' sports, I also remember there was a sporting goods store in Galesburg, and we got matching high top tennis shoes for our basketball team, and that really struck me that that was important.
We also had cleats. My mom bought us cleats for playing field hockey. I kind of think that our parents had to help pay for our uniforms. We had fundraisers to raise money for our uniforms and for the bus trips.
I really didn't have high expectations as a female athlete. I knew that we weren't as important as the boys. It wasn't until later that I realized how little training we had- time and practice was pretty limited. We didn't lift weights or do other things, and I think the boys were afforded a better opportunity to actually build their bodies and strengthen their bodies instead of just doing that by playing the actual sport.
Sports afforded me the ability to like my body, and see my body as useful and powerful, and something more than just something to look at.
I was very aware that the cheerleaders were all very pretty, and they got to wear really cute, uniforms, with short, short, short skirts. On the days of the games, cheerleaders would wear their uniforms at school, and they'd have the pep rallies.
Being in sports... made me grow up valuing the fact that I could run fast, or I could be strong, and it also opened the door for me to have athletic endeavors as I grew into an adult.
When you brought this up, I have tons of memories and I know I'm racing through those. But the more I think about these memories, the more important I realize they are to me.
“Putting on a GHS uniform was and is one of my proudest accomplishments.”
Mary Padilla- GHS Class of 1975
I never thought I'd get a chance to play organized basketball. It was right before my sophomore year that title IX was passed so I was very excited and nervous to try out for the team. We only had one uniform. Practices were held at Hitchcock. Our family and friends were the only ones who attended games. We were lucky to have 25 people in the stands. Couldn't believe we were getting play against other teams.
Frustrated that we didn't get to practice at the high school gym, we had to practice at Hitchcock. Frustrated to think most people didn't even realize that we had a womens basketball team.
It was a highlight was being on the first GHS women's basketball team.
Going to Bob Weiss basketball camp with Molly Smith and my team getting first place. Just being part of a special time. I'll never forget my teammates and the memories we made together. Putting on a GHS uniform was/is one of my proudest accomplishments.
“We were all so happy to play after spending our whole lives watching boys.”
Molly Smith- GHS Class of 1975
I sure did dream of playing on a “real team”! I read books about baseball, watched the Cubs on TV, and went to the boys’ little league games where they got to wear official uniforms- I was so jealous! When I lived near Chicago, the boys in the neighborhood only allowed me to be permanent catcher in their whiffle ball games. Luckily the boys in the neighborhood I moved to on Olive Street in Galesburg were more open-minded and we all played a lot of street sports.
It was at the end of 9th grade (JH), when I first started hearing about this “Title IX” law that would open the doors to girls getting to play.
There was some kind of buzz. Every summer there was a track meet/Jamboree at Lombard JH and a member of the Galesburg Jaycees organized the local winners to go to regional meets. So by the summer before I started high school, I was hanging around people who were talking about the possibility of girls getting to play. That was the time of the ERA state ratification attempts, so my mom talked about it, too. The topic of women’s rights was out there.
For our first game we were driven in cars over to Monmouth. I think I drove in Mr. Moore’s car with other teammates. (Swack probably had to recruit car rides too—as if she didn’t have enough to do!) I played in the JV game. My mom came. (It was probably the first sporting event she had attended since she was in HS.) We won both games and went on to win all of our games that season. We were a scrappy team, having had no formal training, but we were all in.
I knew some of the girls on the original team from the neighborhood and the summer playground program that Galesburg had for elementary schoolers. I knew some of the girls from school activities. We all got along well and were supportive of each other. I think we were all so happy to play after spending our whole lives watching boys get to play while we only played informally.
We had to buy our own shirts and I remember my mom taking me to Sears to buy a pair of Converse basketball shoes before the first game. I’d been wearing regular sneakers up until then.
“I'm not sure we would have won state or even got to state. Boy, it would have been something to see.”
Jodie Prina- GHS Class of 1974
When I got to GHS in 1971-1972, they announced try outs for a girls team being formed. I was very excited. When we went to try outs, it seemed like every girl in school was there. The really good players stood out and a team was formed.
It was a real downer when we were only allowed to play during the halftime of the varsity boys games. I felt deflated. It wasn't until my junior year that we got to play 4 interscholastic games. We won all those. The following year, we played 6 games, winning all those. We didn't get fancy uniforms and had to practice at off site gyms, usually old grade schools.
I do not remember much about the details of how we got to games at others schools. I just remember that I was grateful to be playing at all. We weren't furnished shoes and the uniforms were ugly. It was more like playing in PE clothes. Practices were held in off site locations.
I was not worried about or frustrated by the things the boys team got and the girl team didn't get, I was just enjoying the fact that I was finally playing on a team. The only issue was that we had to play earlier than most people and specifically parents got out of work, so we weren't delaying the Junior varsity and Varsity games. The gym was empty and it felt like we had no support.
I always felt that we were born about 2 years too soon. I'm not sure we would have won state or even got to state. Boy, it would have been something to see.
Highlights of GHS Girls Sports’ Early Years
1930-1949
GHS’s first girls sport- girls tennis
1971-2
Girls Basketball Team formed with a two game schedule
IHSA suspends high schools from playing girls basketball games, GHS girls are not allowed to play any basketball games.
Girls basketball is assigned to practice at Hitchcock School so not to interfere with GHS, Churchill, or Lombard boys teams. This continued until the late ‘70’s.
1972-3
GHS starts girls sports- field hockey, volleyball, bowling, basketball, track, badminton, softball
Laura Brooks (Basketball)- First female athlete to earn Streak of Week Award from GHS Budget
Girls Basketball team goes 4-0, IHSA limited school to play only 4 basketball games. It should be noted when the IHSA did not conduct football play-offs, teams like the 1956 undefeated Streaks were labeled “Mythical State Champs.” The same credit has not been given to undefeated teams in girls sports. (For those who think this is self-serving, I was not the coach of this team.)
IHSA state competition in track and bowling
Debbie Steck (Shot, Discus, Mile) and Kathy Ornelis (Hurdles)- first female athletes to qualify for state competition in any sport
1973-4
Girls Basketball Team goes 6-0. It should be noted when the IHSA did not conduct football play-offs, teams like the 1956 undefeated Streaks were labeled “Mythical State Champs.” The same credit has not been given to undefeated teams in girls sports. (For those who think this is self-serving, I was not the coach of this team.)
Ann Conover (Mile)- third female individual to qualify for state.
1974-5
Volleyball team wins first District Championship.
1975-6
Field Hockey finishes third in State.
Girls Golf finishes third in State.
Players from GHS win Juco Basketball State Championship at Sandburg
1976-7
Girls tennis wins GHS girls sports first WB6 championship
Field Hockey finishes in Elite 8
Girls Golf finishes third in State
Sandy Owen (9th) first female athlete to finish in top ten at State
IHSA runs first State Basketball Tourney
Jodie Prina (Basketball at University of Illinois at Champaign) - first GHS female athlete to play D1 athletics. She has never been inducted into the GHS HOF.
1977-8
The sport of Field Hockey is dropped by GHS
Cookie Rosine (4th-Golf)- first GHS female athlete to finish top 5 at State
1978-9
The WB6 Conference starts competition in girls basketball with a limited 5 game schedule.
1979-80
Girls tennis team finishes 4th in State and 18-0
Girls basketball ranked #7 in State- first girls team ranked in top 10
1980-1
Amanda Allen and Heidi Eastman finish 2nd in State
1983-4
Debbie Roberts first GHS female to win the WB6’s Don Morris Award
1985-6
Girls are admitted in the G-Club
Deidre Ponzer is first GHS female to earn Gerald Phillips Award for scholastic excellence. Today it is given to the top male and top female.
1986-7
Female athletes are allowed to wear same letter jackets are male athletes
1989-90
Debbie Roberts first female athlete selected to GHS Athletic HOF.
1991-2
Galesburg Thanksgiving Tourney (Girls Basketball) has Saturday games moved to Peoria Woodruff to accommodate boys basketball intrasquad scrimmage in Thiel Gym.
1995-6
Girls basketball team takes 3rd in State- They earn the first IHSA State trophy. The IHSA did not give trophies for 3rd/4th place so the GHS girls teams who finished in the top 4 in the 1970’s did not receive trophies.
“No Lady Streaks”- In Galesburg Register-Mail, girls basketball players stated they did not want to be called “Lady Streaks” that they were “Silver Streaks.”
1996-7
GHS Girls basketball vs. Taylorville in State semi-finals sets record for largest attendance for HS basketball in Illinois history (still record today).
1990’s
Coaches of girls sports received equal pay to coaches of boys sports
1999-2000
Caricia Andrews (Long Jump)- first GHS female athlete to win State Championship.
1995-2003
Girls basketball set State record with 9 straight Sectional championships
2003-4
1996 Girls Basketball became first female team inducted into GHS Athletic HOF.
None of the great early teams of GHS girls sports have been inducted into the HOF-
1975-6 Girls Golf- 3rd in State
1975-6 Girls Field Hockey-3rd in State
1976-7 Girls Golf- 3rd in State
1979-80- Girls Tennis- 4th in State
1980-1 Girls Tennis- 5th in State
1972-3 Girls Basketball- Undefeated
1973-4 Girls Basketball- Undefeated.
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