. I played stationary guard when I was in high school. That means I was only allowed on the defensive end of the court during games. Because of this, I never learned how to shoot. And when I played, I never knew who my teammates would be. In high school, we were not allowed to play my school against your school. Back in ancient times (the early 1960's), girls who wanted to play would meet at a host high school. Once there, we were assigned teams, mixing with athletes from other schools.When I was growing up, I wanted to swim on the Champaign Country Club team. Although I did compete once or twice, Dad discouraged my participation on the team. He said he didn't like the parents who expected their children to win. Anything less than winning was not acceptable to these parents.
When I was a student at Beloit, I again swam competitively. I also was a member of the 
team. I always picked the hardest dives. I continued to swim and dive competetively when I transferred to Purdue (B. S. in Education). Another sport I enjoyed at Purdue was 
. I played half-back and goalie. Playing in 20 and 30 F weather had its advantages. When injured, we didn't need to use ice.
I began coaching when I was 24. It was easy for me to be accepted as a coach since I taught physical education. One of my accomplishments is that I was a coach the first year of the high school girls' Tournament in Illinois. While teaching at St. Charles HS, I also was the coach for 
, , and 
.
My last few years in St. Charles, I was the girls' athletic director. I don't use capitals because we females still were seen as too gentle for "real sports," and, therefore, didn't "deserve" the recognition the boys' sports received. I must say that was not the case when my basketball team qualified for sectional basketball play. Because of the success of my basketball team, their was a school assembly just for my team prior to the Sectional Tournament.
When I accepted my current job at Champaign Centennial High School, I began teaching Special Education. Since I wanted to devote more time to my teaching, I decided to step back a little from coaching - I was just an assistant coach for the girls' basketball team. Ten years ago, I began the girls' basketball program at Jefferson Middle School. I have been the 8th grade coach, the 7th grade coach, and both the 7th and 8th grade coach. Right now, I am very comfortable coaching the 7th grade team.
In 1984, I began another stage of my coaching, which I continue today. Although I am not paid for this coaching, I love it. The coaching I am talking about is Head Coach for Centennial Special Olympics. As a Special Olympics coach, I had the pleasure of being an Athletics coach at the 1991 International Summer Games in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wait a minute, you say, what's Athletics? It's the name Special Olympics uses for track and field.
Athletics is one of 8 Special Olympics sports I coach. I also coach Alpine (downhill) Skiing, Speed Skating, Basketball, Bocce, Softball, Bowling, and Volleyball. Unfortunately, the two million knee surgeries I have had have left me with an atrophied quad muscle in my left leg. Because of this, I do not have the strength to get the Water Safety Instructor's Certification. Without the WSI, I cannot coach Aquatics (swimming and diving). Also, because of my knee, it would be too strenous to try and coach Equestrian. I would try coaching anything else my athletes wanted to do.
The biggest problem I have with my Special Olympics team is finding space for the athletes to practice. Centennial has only one gym, and it is used constantly by the 6 high school basketball teams during their season. We often are able to practice at Jefferson. Too often, the Champaign Park District wants the space, and they get what they want. Unfortunately, when we are able to use that gym, it is very small and I have two Special Olympics basketball teams and 7 or so athletes who compete in Individual Skills. It would be nice to be able to have all three groups practicing without being in each other's way.
That's the story of most of my involvement with sports. Please click here to go back and read more about my dad and the Fighting Illini.
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