“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

Marianne Williamson

Today I would like to pay tribute to our women athletes.  The quote above is actually the official quote of the Fight Like a Girl Club, a group dedicated to “supporting women battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases and those who love them.”  You can view their website at www.thefightlikeagirlclub.com.  Growing up, the phrase, “fight like a girl” was meant to belittle and insult.  Thanks to this group,  the phrase, “fight like a girl” takes on a whole new meaning.  We know that it means that women are incredibly strong, resilient, and amazing people, and to fight like one doesn’t mean you are weak, it means quite the opposite!  

Today we sent off the Lady Coyotes Basketball team on their way to the NAIA Div II National Championship.  The Lady Coyotes are KWU's first ever 30-win basketball team, men or women.  They have fought like girls all season and have played some of the best defense this college basketball fan has ever seen.  I have a project that has me looking through the student newspapers and last week was my trip through the 1970s, which led me to the beginning of women’s basketball here at KWU. 

Our women’s athletics programs began because of the hard work of many women, but especially KWU’s own Ginny Bevan.  Below is an article written in the 2007 Contact about Ginny and the amazing things that she did for this university and women’s athletics. (Click on each one to see it full size) 

 

In 1972, Women’s Varsity sports, which included basketball, volleyball, and softball were finally recognized by the KWU administration as a school activity. 

However, it  appears, that the University began funding women’s sports only to vote to cut them for the 1973-1974 season, unless the women could once again raise the money to fund their own program. You will see from The Advance (The KWU student newspaper) stories below that sports were reinstated and have remained intact, and have achieved great things. 

The treatment of women’s sports has certainly changed through the years.  Looking through the 1972 yearbook, I found that men’s sports had multi-page layouts, while the women’s teams were relegated to a half-page team picture.  My how times have changed!  I can now watch my alma mater’s women’s basketball team play on TV almost as often as I can the men’s. Why just this year we had the longest Division I basketball winning streak snapped.  The holder of that winning streak was John Wooden’s great UCLA men’s teams. It is now held by the University of Connecticut’s Women’s basketball team. 


Fight like a Girl.


Good luck Lady Coyotes!  We will all be rooting for you, and hoping that you make even more history!