The women’s records that are on file in the BGSU University athletics department date back to 1973, the first year that BG was a regular member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). As documented in our book, Forward Falcons: Women's Sports at BGSU, 1914-1982, women’s sports had flourished at BG for many, many years before 1973. So, an obvious question is, “What happened to the pre-1973 records?”
Unfortunately, the answer to that question is distressing. When the women’s and men’s intercollegiate athletics programs merged in 1976, the files containing the historical records of the women’s program were transferred to the athletics department. Most of the records dating from 1973 were retained in the official files, and the files of previous years were stored along with other athletics department documents under the bleachers of the football stadium. Sometime later, large quantities of water seeped into that storage area. Much to our dismay, all of the files were damaged beyond repair and had to be discarded. Consequently, the only available information about the pre-1973 years is in (a) the memories and scrapbooks of coaches and athletes who participated in women’s sport, (b) accounts published in the Key, (c) media guides, which appeared on the scene in the mid-1970s, and (d) articles published in the BG News and other news outlets.
In our book, we identified the starting dates of the intercollegiate teams as the first recorded year in which BG teams competed against other universities in single sport events (i.e., not play days or sports days). We included only those teams that existed prior to 1982. The starting/ending dates for those teams are as follows:
Basketball--1962-present
Cross Country--1976-present
Fencing--1945-1978
Field Hockey--1950-1982
Golf--1958-present
Gymnastics--1965-present
Lacrosse--1970-1981
Softball--1965-1972; sport dropped for lack of a coach; 1977-present
Splashers/Swimming and Diving--1948-present
Swan Club/Synchronized Swimming--1939-1978
Tennis--1951-present
Track and Field--1965-present
Volleyball--1965-present
Congratulations to Dr. Spencer's class on your hard work over the past semester! We are sure that you collected an enormous amount of information and gained valuable insight into the process of historical research! Good luck with your culminating event next Friday!
Janet Parks, Ann Bowers, and Addie Hostetler Muti
Unfortunately, the answer to that question is distressing. When the women’s and men’s intercollegiate athletics programs merged in 1976, the files containing the historical records of the women’s program were transferred to the athletics department. Most of the records dating from 1973 were retained in the official files, and the files of previous years were stored along with other athletics department documents under the bleachers of the football stadium. Sometime later, large quantities of water seeped into that storage area. Much to our dismay, all of the files were damaged beyond repair and had to be discarded. Consequently, the only available information about the pre-1973 years is in (a) the memories and scrapbooks of coaches and athletes who participated in women’s sport, (b) accounts published in the Key, (c) media guides, which appeared on the scene in the mid-1970s, and (d) articles published in the BG News and other news outlets.
In our book, we identified the starting dates of the intercollegiate teams as the first recorded year in which BG teams competed against other universities in single sport events (i.e., not play days or sports days). We included only those teams that existed prior to 1982. The starting/ending dates for those teams are as follows:
Basketball--1962-present
Cross Country--1976-present
Fencing--1945-1978
Field Hockey--1950-1982
Golf--1958-present
Gymnastics--1965-present
Lacrosse--1970-1981
Softball--1965-1972; sport dropped for lack of a coach; 1977-present
Splashers/Swimming and Diving--1948-present
Swan Club/Synchronized Swimming--1939-1978
Tennis--1951-present
Track and Field--1965-present
Volleyball--1965-present
Congratulations to Dr. Spencer's class on your hard work over the past semester! We are sure that you collected an enormous amount of information and gained valuable insight into the process of historical research! Good luck with your culminating event next Friday!
Janet Parks, Ann Bowers, and Addie Hostetler Muti
No comments:
Post a Comment