A History of Early Women’s Basketball at IU: Part 2

By: Grace Shymanski, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2017, French and History, Bloomington

The WRA Era, Extramural Era, and Association Eras

Women’s Basketball continued to progress as a game and as the preferred pass time for collegiate women at Indiana. Organizations such as sororities, dormitories, and other unorganized groups of women continued to compete in basketball events on campus.

The two preceding eras (Maxwell Era and Departmental Era) were heavily under the influence of the Department of Physical Education for Women[1].

By 1949, the Women’s Recreational Association had begun to take over the facilitation of women’s athletics on campus. In a similar way to the Women’s Athletic Association, the WRA’s purpose on Indiana’s campus was to expand and open more opportunities for women to participate in recreational activities on campus.

Instead of supporting solely a competitive athletic system, the WRA created a tier system in line with the play day philosophy introduced in the previous decade.

This allowed all girls on campus to participate on a play day level, intramural level, or an advanced competitive level in accordance with their interest and skill.  The spirit and enthusiasm for the game of basketball remained a fixture on campus. Basketball continued to grow throughout this period largely due to the initiative of the undergraduates.

Following the overall national trend of women’s sports the WRA opened an era of Indiana Women’s Basketball for “the one purpose of athletics for girls and women is the good of those who play”[2].

“In spite of their busy schedules of classes and ward duty, student nurses take time out for basketball. The Nurse Basketball Team this year aspired to regain the championship of the Indianapolis Schools of Nursing Basketball Tourney.”—Arbutus 1960

The decade of the 1950s saw relatively little change after the initial restricting of the intramural program by the WRA. The game of basketball continued to development with the addition of an overtime period, moving away from the segmented and stationary court positions, and allowing players to snatch the basketball without a foul allowed for women to assert themselves in a more physical and competitive realm of basketball.

By the 1960s, “the women’s athletic program had become a vital part of campus life” with 70% of female students being active members in the Women’s Recreational Association.

The Indiana Daily Student describe in an article entitled “WRA for the active girl” how every woman on campus whether she was skilled or unskilled could find a place within the association[1].

The intramurals served as a simple program to have fun.

The extramural or intercollegiate competition was for the more skilled woman and was jointly sponsored by the WRA and the Department of Physical Education for Women. This team was coached by Dr. Kay Burrus of the Department of Physical Education for Women. Leanne Grotke reported that while the teams were on the road, the team would often sleep at someone’s home and were responsible for their own transportation and food[2].

“Sometimes when girl athletes are using one of the women’s gyms, male students show up and want the gym for themselves. Let’s say we’re encouraged to vacate the premises.”—Jill Forkner

During this period of women’s athletics, the women had to share uniforms amongst the sports teams. While Jill Forkner, a junior in 1969, when she as interviewed by the Indiana Daily Student for her stance on women’s athletic equality on campus.

She found the uniform situation of the female athletes embarrassing: “the girl athletes represent I.U. wherever they perform…It’s very embarrassing for an I.U. team dressed in HPER uniforms to face brilliantly uniformed opposition”[3].

Indiana University could not become a member of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women because they had an annual budget less than $400[4] for all nine extramural sports teams which did not allow the basketball team to pay the $75[5] entrance fee for AIAW. The same budget restraints made it impossible for the women’s basketball team to participate in the national tournament.

As the passage of Title IX approached in 1972, it was clear the women’s basketball team at Indiana University needed more funding in order to achieve their goals as a sports team. While they were a competitive team capable of advancing in tournament play, they were hampered by the incredibly low budget.

The budget rose to $14,500 by 1972, yet the attitude within the Athletic Department on the best means of integrating into the athletic department. Bill Orwig, the Athletic Director at the time offered his stance on Title IX in the Arbutus: “I’m certainly not against women’s athletics, but the hard facts are that women are putting additional costs on the athletic departments with no sizeable income to offset those costs”[6].

Furthermore attitudes surround women in athletics continued to be a negative reminder that women’s participation was not wholly accepted. The 1974 Arbutus quoted The Honorable Judge John Clark Fitz-Gerald saying “Athletic competition builds character in our boys. We do not need that kind of character in our girls”[7].

“I would assume the judge feels that the boys are so bad off that they need a character building program.” —Leanne Grotke

Despite critiques such as these, the women’s basketball team continue to thrive and expand their horizons due to the support, dedication, and tireless work of advocates such as Leanne Grotke, Kay Burrus, Isabelle Hutchison, and other faculty members.

For part one of this blog, please visit: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/23/a-history-of-early-womens-basketball-at-iu-part-1/

Notes

[1] While the name of the Department changes several times, the core faculty remain the same and continue to pursue avenues to encourage and increase basketball opportunities on campus.

[2] The purpose statement for the National Section on Women’s Athletics. It first appeared in 1937 but continued to remain the center focus of the organization throughout the decades of the 1940s-1950s.

Works Cited

[1] Cheryl Scutt, “WRA for the active girl,” Indiana Daily Student (Bloomington, IN), October 3, 1969.

[2] Elizabeth Anne Gregg, “A History of Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics at Indiana University-Bloomington: 1965-2001 A Historical Case Study” (Doctoral Dissertation, Bloomington, 2007), 230.

[3]Dan Armstrong, “WRA wants women’s athletic equality: Coed complains about male attitudes,” Indiana Daily Student (Bloomington, IN), May, 21, 1969.

[4]Arbutus Yearbook 1974. (Bloomington, 1974).

[5] Gregg, 53.

[6]Arbutus Yearbook 1974. (Bloomington, 1974).

[7]Arbutus Yearbook 1974. (Bloomington, 1974).