Education-Atwood High School, St. Mary of the Plains College (BA), Benedictine College (MA)
Teacher/Coach/Administrator-Spearville Jr-Sr High, Leavenworth High, Rockhurst University, Topeka Public Schools
 
I can simply no longer imagine our world without women playing sports right alongside our male counterparts, but I do remember when it wasn't true.  As a western Kansas farm girl with no brothers, growing up in Atwood, Kansas the 60's and 70's, I was no stranger to hard work, and through 4-H got to compete from a young age as a horsewoman. I also grew up doing "men's work" on the farm out of necessity, so when athletic opportunities began when I was in junior high, I didn't think twice about getting involved in activities that previously had only been open to boys. Even more impactful in my journey towards becoming an athlete and coach were the stories shared and examples set by my mother and maternal grandmother, both excellent athletes who had not had the opportunity that I was being given.
 
Grandma Hilda Eaton bowled and golfed as far back as I can remember, and she was good. She also coached the Junior Golf program, although my father would not let us drive to town to participate, and he thought it a frivolous sport! Regardless, grandma took us to the golf course with her whenever possible, and I learned to hit the ball, a wonderful skill in my adult life and a sport I still play, although I never played it competitively. She also took us bowling, and to have a bowling alley in a small town was quite a treat. She also made sure we got to bowl in a league when I was in elementary school, before Title IX, and she had pictures all over her house of her bowling teams competing at tournaments, including state, and she proudly displayed all of her patches, pins, and trophies from all of her success right alongside my grandfather's. As I look back, I was blessed to be in a place that had already been more than willing to provide opportunities for girls/women outside of the school setting, and fortunate to have female role models even before I realized the value of that example.
 
My mother's experiences are what motivated my sister's and I to take advantage of every opportunity we could talk my father into over the years. Wilda Walker (Eaton) had been an incredible athlete who could outrun and out jump the boys in junior high. Not just her story, but one I heard from the male athletes in her class at every reunion over the years. She regularly shared her frustration with watching those young men compete in football, basketball, and track in high school ('53-'57), while the only sport she was allowed to participate in was cheerleading. She was a lifeguard in the summers in high school, and was a wonderful swimmer and diver, but there were no formal competitions at that time. Thanks to her yelling matches with our father, we all took every swimming lesson possible, and although we were never allowed to participate on the swim team in the summer, we were all excellent swimmers and divers thanks to mom.
 
My mother's stories were heartbreaking for me to hear, but it meant that she was an incredible advocate for us when volleyball started during my 7th grade year (the fall of 1973, in response to the passage of Title IX), and then basketball was added when I was in 8th grade. Although track had also been added, even at the high school in 1973, my father did not let me participate until my senior year in the spring of 1979, as spring on the farm meant all hands on deck, and as the oldest daughter, I was expected to watch my sisters so my mother could run the tractor. The biggest hurdle of sexism I had to overcome to fully participate in sports was in my own home, my father! Ironically, by the time I fought my way through high school participating in basketball, adding volleyball as a junior and track as a senior, and experiencing success that led to a college scholarship that with academics was a "full ride," he began to warm up to spending the money on gas to allow my sister's to fully participate in every sports. By the time my youngest sister got to junior high in 1986, my father expected her to participate in everything, and she ended up playing basketball in college as well.
 
Entering high school in the fall of 1975, basketball became my sport of choice. As it was in the winter, my father was open to allowing me to go out for the newest addition to sports for girls at Atwood High School. A scrawny 5-9, 105 pound girl, I had height, was athletic, and along with two of my classmates, had a year of experience on the other girls on the team, as we had played a short season in junior high the year prior. As such, we started three freshmen on that first team. We only won two games, but I was certainly hooked from that point on, and basketball was the sport I chose in college, even though I had been first team all league in volleyball the only two years I was allowed to play, as a junior and senior, and I was recruited for both sports. In retrospect, I was also blessed to be in a school district that implemented Title IX with integrity, ensuring that the girls and boys alternately switched between the practice gym and main gym at the halfway mark through every practice session. I happened to be in Algebra with the boys' coach that first year, and I have teased him to this day about the one line comments he made about the girls team, in light of sharing the facilities and equipment equally. Ironically, a few years later, Coach John Terry switched to coaching the girls' program, coaching both of my sisters, and one of my favorite teachers became a favored teacher and coach in my household. He did a great deal to increase the success of the girls' athletic programs, and my family will appreciate him and his contribution forever.
 
I chose to continue my athletic and academic career at St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kansas, a strong academic liberal arts college that had been very successful with their women's basketball program. The coaching staff changed after I signed, and I was blessed to end up playing for John Armstrong, a tough coach who was used to coaching boys, but he pushed us to excellence, and I learned what hard work will do for success. It has been a lifelong lesson that has meant so much to me, and to my career. He also had a heart of gold under that rough exterior, doing anything for us throughout my years at SMPC, and he and wife Vicki have continued to treat us like family over the years since graduation. In addition, much the same as had happened at  Atwood High School, SMPC treated both men's and women's programs equally with facilities and budgetary commitments. It was years later before I realized how blessed I had been to be in places like Atwood High and SMPC, because I learned and experienced that this was not always the norm in other places.
 
My first teaching job began in January of 1984 in Spearville, Kansas, and I began coaching at the middle school the following year. A small 1A-2A community, I was again blessed to be in a place that had a strong commitment to both academics and athletics. However, I was shocked that during the fall, the only sport was football for the boys, and they had not added volleyball, a sport that in most places was among the first added after 1973. In 1988, a parent group finally pushed Title IX and volleyball was added, but not without my being called in by administration to ask if I had been behind the movement. I was a bit taken aback, as I had not done this, but I certainly was in favor of the threat to file a lawsuit to ensure a fall sport for girls. I was honored to coach those first teams, and we quickly went from 0-17 to 30-1 in three seasons. I also assisted with the women's basketball program, highly successful from 1985 -1990, amassing a 156-8 record with six straight appearances in either the 1A or 2A State Championship, including a run of four straight State Championships with a 104-2 record. I was head coach for the last two titles, and I can proudly say that they were a very special group of young women who approached athletics with a tenacity comparable to any boys program.
 
From Spearville, I went to Leavenworth, Kansas, and raised my family while continuing to teach and coach. The 6A level was a challenge I truly enjoyed, and my school worked to provide equity in spite of the fact that the Sunflower League continued to deny requests for equity for prime time play, relegating the girls to Monday Thursday, while the boys' played Tuesday and Friday. Ironically, the girls, who had to play on two school nights, far outperformed their male counterparts academically, and I will never forget sitting in a room with all of the men's and women's basketball coaches, the athletic directors, and the principals, and realizing that only one principal and I were female. With a 42:2 ratio, and the fact that the female principal would not "press the matter," I listened to a group of men inform me that their current practice provided the girls with equity, although it was painfully obvious that no one had bothered to ask. Leavenworth however recognized the inequity, and we began holding double headers, providing leadership in the move towards that equity. Additionally, Jim VanMaanen, principal, and Bob Strano, athletic director, listened and worked hard to ensure equity in all ways for all sports regardless of gender. What a blessing to yet again be in a place where equity was truly valued.
 
In 2001, I began a wonderful eight years at Rockhurst University in Kansas City. A Jesuit university with a phenomenal academic reputation, my years serving as Head Women's Basketball Coach, Senior Woman Administrator, Assistant Athletic Director and Interim Athletic Director fulfilled a dream. My own experiences had truly given me a passion to give back to young women, and I was fortunate to also coach my daughter while I was there. It felt like I had come full circle as I watched those young women enter the workforce with all of the skills and benefits that come from education and athletics experiences working together.
 
After leaving Rockhurst, I chose to return to the high school level, becoming an assistant principal at Topeka High. What a wonderful school with a value for tradition and diversity, a place where every student can find their "it!" After serving five years as the principal at Eisenhower Middle School, I returned to THS where I am in my sixth year as head principal. Without my experiences as an athlete and a coach, I am not sure that I would have had the same success to which I have been blessed as an administrator. I never would have imagined that I would be a principal of an urban high school, adamantly refusing the thought when I got my master's degree in 1996, but the Lord often has a different plan. My experiences with athletics was superb preparation for the challenges I have encountered, and I continue to value and encourage students to get involved in athletics and activities.
 
Having coached in some capacity at either middle or high school, or at the collegiate level, from 1984 through 2009, I have certainly had a broad range of experiences. I can say that the addition of athletics has expanded success for women far beyond the competition sites. The importance of athletics for all students continues to be something I speak to and protect whenever the opportunity arises. I owe it to the generations before me who were excluded from this opportunity to appreciate what I was given, to work tirelessly to ensure that it is not taken for granted by the current generation of students, and to lay a foundation that ensures it is not taken away from anyone again, and we need to expand the opportunities to those who are not at the competitive level.
 
I also want to say thank you to all of those educators who ensured that my experience was of equity and inclusion throughout my career. I think of John Terry, John Armstrong, Gordon King, Jim VanMaanen, Bob Strano, and Frank Diskin, men who believed in the value of sports for women, and men who ensured that the women around them had opportunities and support to do anything they put their mind to. I owe you a great debt that I can only pay forward. You are remembered and appreciated.