The rich history of Myers’ team, which played in 1973 — 50 years ago — is riddled with successes and hardships that reflect the struggle for acceptance of girls and women in athletics across the country after federal Title IX was passed in 1972.

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 reads “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

The fight for girls teams in Ishpeming and other places didn’t start with Title IX, but with a group of girls interested in sports.

Prior to any official teams or competitive brackets, Marge and her friends played on intramural teams sponsored by local schools. They formed a bond so close that even to this day the group of women still visit together regularly at Congress Pizzas in Ishpeming. Myers’ friends include Coleen Waters, Bev Goldsworthy, Julie Luehmann and Judy Saari.

This is the team photo of the 1973-74 Ishpeming HIgh School Hematites girls basketball team. In the front row from left are sophomore Vikki Truscott, freshman Denise Dupras, junior Marge (Jose) Myers, junior Sara Kuiie, junior Pam Liquia and sophomore Bev (Nault) Goldsworthy. Top row from left, sophomore Ann Marin, freshman Judy (Doney) Saari, freshman Coleen (Carter) Waters, sophomore Sue Johnson, junior Deb Larson, sophomore Julie (Millimaki) Luehmann, sophomore Sue Maki and coach Lynn Czap. (Photo courtesy Judy Saari)

The girls’ intramural basketball they played is quite different from the sport known and enjoyed today.

“If you play intramural, you certainly play the regulation rules, but this was pre-regulation,” Myers said. “They were trying to figure out how much a girl could run up and down the floor and things like that.”

It was ultimately decided girls weren’t able to dribble the ball across the court. Marge described how players had to pass the ball to teammates on the sideline in order to get it down the court.

“That was maybe when I was in eighth or ninth grade, and then the next year, they picked what was called a ‘rover’ and that rover could dribble the ball the whole length, but nobody else could,” she said. “They didn’t feel that girls could all do this.”

Even so, there were always personal basketball games in the girls’ neighborhoods. Bev said that both girls and boys would play all sorts of sports together in their free time, similar to Saari’s neighborhood dynamic, but Myers and Waters had a different experience.

This shows the Ishpeming High School girls basketball team’s original uniforms made up of various household pieces of clothing. (Photo courtesy Judy Saari)

“In my neighborhood, we did not (play basketball with boys) because the boys did not want to play basketball with the girls,” Myers said. “They didn’t think that was right. A lot of my classmates that lived in my neighborhood that were male did not accept it, so we didn’t have that.

“So I played on my own basketball court by myself.”

Similarly, Waters had an older brother who would play outside with his friends, but she never felt she could touch the basketball with them around.

When Title IX passed, the girls were finally allowed to play with the same standards as boys, but that didn’t mean they were taken seriously.

Their first issue was finding a female coach before officially forming the girls team. According to Myers, it was a struggle due to the fact that even the female gym teachers who taught girls’ gym classes weren’t exposed to basketball.

Finally, the 1973 season started when the district hired Lynn Czap, a Northern Michigan University student who played on their women’s basketball team.

One of the most noticeable differences in play was the running clock. It didn’t stop when the ball went out of bounds, when a player was injured or when referees were discussing a play.

Myers said players would overhear comments from the refs talking about how they didn’t even want to be at the game. One of the things the girls heard was “I want to get home and watch the World Series.”

“That’s how they thought about girls playing basketball in the ’70s,” Saari said. “‘Get this game over with so I can go home.'”

The girls’ uniforms were barely uniforms their first year, as the girls would have to wear school-issued shorts, borrow a large white shirt from their dads, tie a blue apron over the shirt and then use tape to make the number on the front of their “jersey.”

In their second year, the school ordered team uniforms, but it was clear that no woman was consulted in the process of designing and ordering them. Their tops were sleeveless and awkward to wear for high school girls who didn’t want their bras showing.

“Nobody wanted to lift up their arms,” Luehmann recalled.

On the contrary, the boys teams were provided not only sufficient, but extra resources.

“When the boys had a game, they wore their blazers to school. The school bought blazers for them so they’d wear blazers and a shirt and tie and the girls had nothing like that,” Luehmann said. “I still contend that men don’t know how to buy for women.”

Just before a game would begin, the girls on the team would have to get the gym ready and in playing condition. They would open the door, turn on the lights, sweep the floor and pull out the bleachers.

“And the bleachers were not on both sides, it was just one little section,” Saari said. “There were 20 people on the team. We were lucky if we got 15 people to show up. Mostly our parents and maybe some grandparents.”

It was in their second year that the girls showed everyone they meant business. They won the regionals against Escanaba, but Myers said, “There was not a single administrator there to accept the trophy.”

Even after their success, they weren’t treated the same as the boys. As the girls were ramping up to the end of their second season and preparing to go downstate for the quarterfinals, the boys — who were just beginning their season — were given the gym to practice after school and the girls were given a 6 a.m. spot.

“It was like we were second class to the guys. They had the gym, they had the nice uniforms and then there was us,” Goldsworthy said.

However, this was just the first stepping stone on a path that would ultimately lead to a thriving girls basketball program. They noticed after their first big wins, some of the boys coaches would come to watch the girls’ games.

In their third year, Ishpeming officially had a junior varsity team.

“I think that shows how the response to the girls’ basketball, because after three years we were able to have a JV team. That speaks volumes,” Waters said.

In the fourth year, Saari became one of the first girls in Ishpeming High School history to receive a JV letter.

“I think it’s important to realize that this wasn’t something that was just given to us, that we had to fight for it and we had to kind of prove ourselves that we had the numbers to go out for a team, that we were committed and didn’t quit,” Luehmann said.

It’s clear from the 50-year legacy these women left, that they, in fact, didn’t quit as the Ishpeming High School varsity girls basketball team continues on strong.

Alexandria Bournonville can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 506. Her email address is abournonville@miningjournal.net.