The Girls Can Sweat

Ken’s Story
Kay was a freshman and the only one of her classmates to letter in volleyball. She continues to play the sport even to this day.

Kay was a member of the first girl’s basketball team to play in Nebraska since the 1920s. It seems the Nebraska legislature for all those years thought the sport was too vigorous for the distaff side. She also played softball in Auburn’s summer rec program.


Sam’s Version
Hurrah for Title IX. It eventually got Kay a scholarship to Northwest Missouri State. I am all for providing the opportunity for women to play sports and supplying equal resources and facilities. But, forgive me, it shouldn't actually be called basketball until the girls start setting picks and blocking out on rebounds. Have you ever tried encouraging an eleven year old girl to take a charge? Call me old fashioned, but I never had any trouble asking my boys to collide into each other.

I was a Junior when we discovered that Kay was a southpaw amateur athlete. Unable to resist being out done by her, I expressed an interest in trying out for the Legion baseball team.

So, the summer before I was a senior David Wininger gave me an old six-fingered ball glove. I borrowed a pair of cleats and handed the scorebook off to one of the youngsters. One of those youngsters, our batboy, was Jamie Daffer. Through a long series of unintended consequences, Jim is now my brother-in-law.

I spent most of that season on the bench of course. Baseball is an intensely personal team sport. They throw the ball at you and hit the ball at you. My offense consisted solely of nervously hitting the ball into the hole and trying to beat the shortstop’s throw to first. I was well into adulthood before I caught a ball in the outfield.