Posted on 04/11/2014 1:04:45 AM PDT by iowamark
In 1993, the era of girls' six-on-six basketball in Iowa came to an end. This one-hour IPTV documentary takes a look back at the game and what it meant to generations of girls who played it.
One of the most acclaimed sports in Iowa history, six-on-six was especially popular in small towns. It was there that young women became queens of the court, where communities rallied behind their daughters, and where school leaders, mostly male, fought for girls' equality. Like no where else in the country, young women in Iowa have played the game of basketball for over a century.
Six-on-six was unique. The girls who played it and the rural communities that loved it were part of an experience that may never again be replicated in any sport, by either gender. For Iowans, it was More Than a Game.
(Excerpt) Read more at iptv.org ...
I remember those days fondly. My sister was an excellent player. I once asked if she’d rather play boys’ rules. She said Iowa girls’ rules made for a faster game. A girl could only dribble three times before they had to pass the ball on. Plus you were restricted to your half of the court. Three girls on your team were defense and played on your opponent’s side of the court. Three girls on your team were offense and were restricted to the side of the court with your basket. So the game was fast and each girl had to be an active player.
It’s too bad the rules changed. Girls’ basketball in Iowa was certainly a big deal when I was in high school.
My sister played in the 70s in OK, went to college, became a PE teacher/coach, coached the 6-on-6 game in OK in the late 70s and early 80s. She decided she really wanted to get into the full-court game as was being played elsewhere so she moved to TX. She only coached another 3-4 years and left the profession and teaching. She liked the game but the full-court game made the coaching more of a man’s profession with the attendant politics.
The girls played 6/6 bb when I was in high school in Arkansas. Graduated in 1963. As I recall, most of the action was at the mid court stripe, strategy being to get the ball across to ones offensive players. I don’t recall when Arkansas switched to the 5/5 game though as after graduation I was preoccupied with other distractions, i.e. College, army, work....
I knew a woman from Iowa who grew up in that era. She was close to six feet and a good athlete, but she hated 6 on 6 basketball and was glad when it went to the modern game.
I went to a small school in NYS and we played 6 man football and I believe the girls were still playing 6 girl BB, 3 to a side.
I don’t think the girls played ANY outside the school sports at that time, mostly intramural - especially for the small schools scattered about.
Of course in mid to late 50’s we only played 3 sports, Football, Basketball and Baseball, with usually the same people playing all three sports. Some exceptions, of course, but for the most part.....
Wait, women/girls actually played sports prior to the “landmark” Title 9 ruling???? The hell you say....
Trivia: I went to college with Denise Long’s brother. From Whitten, Iowa. I’ve always wondered what became of him.
It was played also in Western North Carolina in the late 1930’s. I’m sure.
Support for girls' high school sports was a national embarrassment pre-Title IX.
I graduated from high school in 1971, right before Title IX. Sure, some of the high schools in Iowa has girls' basketball, especially the larger schools, but for 90% of the high schools, forget it!
What a difference Title IX made! My very athletic sister was just two years younger than me. She was in the first class of our high school to have girl athletes letter in sports. My sister lettered in basketball, baseball, and track.
Finally my very conservative father's tax dollars paid for sports for his daughters (six daughters, one son!). About time, and only fair.
While Title IX may not be perfect (I refuse to get into an argument on it), I fully support the idea that tax dollars should be used for both girls and boys athletics in public schools.
BullSh!T, BullSh!t Bullsh!t (Unless you care to offer support for your claim). How exactly was the US producing all those female Olympic champions, tennis champions and golf champions prior to Title IX, hmmmm?
Another dumb liberal "slumming it" on FR, huh?
Riiiight. Cuz we all know how all the high schools in the ‘50s were teaching girls how to play tennis and golf and I remember all the bus trips those girls went on to play teams from other high schools.
Hahahahahahaha!
In Ohio, they added the two rovers. They played the whole court. That made more sense. At least it was better than Illinois, who didn’t even have girls’ sports at the time. When I married and moved to Illinois, I told my husband that I couldn’t live here, but 43 years later...here I am...still.
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