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Tag: Janice Beran

May 04 2021

Janice Beran and the Persistence of 6-on-6 Basketball in Iowa

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Anna Holland

This post was written by IWA Graduate Assistant, Erik Henderson

In 1891, James Naismith invented the sport of basketball in Massachusetts at what is now Springfield College. In the early 1900s, the game was adopted for women throughout America especially in small town Iowa. The first Iowa State Championship for girls was played in 1920, the same year women received the right

Women practicing basketball, undated, Janice Beran papers, Box 3, Iowa Women’s Archives.

to vote. In 1934, Iowa transitioned into two-court, six-on-six women’s basketball. However, the introduction of Title IX began to slow the popularity of 6-on-6 women’s basketball. The opportunity to play basketball at the collegiate and state level pushed more women towards 5-on-5. Ultimately, 6-on-6 play began to phase out and was officially discontinued in 1993.

In 1993, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Janice Beran delivered her speech “Why Only in Iowa North [illegible] of Sport History.” It describes some key factors in why 6-on-6 women’s basketball survived in Iowa an era when all other programs were being disbanded. Beran was a professor in the College of Education at Iowa State University until her retirement in 1994. The Janice A. Beran papers primarily consist of published and unpublished articles, and research files concerning her work on women and African Americans in sport. Her research on the history of Iowa girls’ high school basketball culminated in a book published in 1993, From Six-on-Six to Full Court Press: A Century of Iowa Girls’ Basketball. This post will not be a highlight of Beran and her book, rather a dive into why the 6-on-6 basketball lasted in Iowa after other programs around the country were eliminated.

Beran first positions the reader to consider the importance of high school sporting events to small towns. She wrote:

Pennant team cheering, February 1930, Janice Beran papers, Box 3, Iowa Women’s Archives.

In the rural areas where the tradition is strongest everyone from newborn babe to the oldest great grandma attends this most important event on the week’s calendar. Those great grandmas were once on the court vividly recall the heady excitement, the ups and the downs, the centrality, basketball had in their lives as high school students.

As a former high school and collegiate athlete, I have those same feelings about my athletic journey. The energy athletes receive from the community and from the opposition can fuel someone beyond their known potential. Small town engagement and passion for sporting events in Iowa was the catalyst for the longevity on women’s 6-on-6 basketball.

For this speech and many others, Beran sought advice and information from experts through interviews, some of which are preserved in her papers at IWA. From the information received from interviewees, Beran listed ten possible reasons why 6-on-6 basketball survived in Iowa, while other states disbanded the program. Many of the reasons other programs were ended was often due to preconceived stereotypes placed on young women due to the ideologies of the early 20th century. She lists the ten reason as well as brief explanation (we list the first few), leaving the reader with possible future concerns.

  1. Male advocacy for girls’ basketball was a principal factor. She mentions four men who “were instrumental in starting the federation and ensuring that girls had a competitive basketball program.”
  2. There was no single dominant female physical educator in Iowa like in surrounding states; “leading female physical educators were against competition between schools and favored providing a broad range of participation opportunities rather than using the limited gym time to training a few girls to play basketball.”
  3. In rural and small-town schools between 1920’s-60s there was less demand on gym space. “In the small towns the girls’ coach was often the boys’ coach so it was simple for him to arrange for equal practice for both teams.”
  4. Basketball was not viewed as too physical[ly] taxing for girls in rural communities. “Descendants of pioneers, rural women were accustomed to heavy farm work.
  5. High schools became the hub of rural community life and “basketball for girls filled an entertainment void in rural communities.”

The list above are just the first five reasons for the durability of Iowa women and girls’ basketball. It details the collaborative effort not just from women athletes but also community members.

After a good run in the NCAA Basketball tournament by the Hawkeyes, and be a D-III athlete, I realize we all cannot we be Caitlin Clark and be the leading scorer for the Iowa women’s basketball team as a freshman and hold two state records for Iowa as a high schooler. Nor can we be Luka Garza, named the best player in Iowa men’s basketball history and named Player of the Year. However, some of us can be and are the people that watch, analyzes, and research the nature of sports, just like Janice Ann Beran. We can be a part of a sector of society that we enjoy without being the focal point. As a beacon of hope for retired collegiate athletes like myself, in 1992 Beran was the first to win the Central District Scholar Award from the Central District Association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Posted in From the collectionsTagged basketball, Erik Henderson, Janice Beran, six on six, women's sports
Iowa Hawkeyes 1994-1995 Game Program
Feb 07 2018

National Girls and Women in Sport Day

Posted on February 7, 2018December 16, 2020 by Katherine Walden

Today we’re celebrating National Girls and Women in Sport Day! Since it was inaugurated in 1987 by a Presidential Proclamation, NGWSD has recognized the on and off-field achievements of female athletes, from girls active in school and community sports to elite international athletes.

[side note–if you’re not already following our #WPAscrapbook project about a 1930s Work Project Administration photographer who documented women’s recreation at the University of Iowa, join us in February as we document this exciting find]

Many of our collections at the Iowa Women’s Archives highlight women’s achievement in sport, from stand-out athletes like Janice Beran to ground-breaking athletic administrators like Christine Grant and N. Peg Burke. Or you can learn about the University of Iowa’s Department of Physical Education for Women and local professional team the Iowa Cornets.

But February is also Black History Month, and opening ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics kick off this week, so we wanted to share materials from the Nadine Domond Papers, which were donated by Domond in 2001. Check out our Twitter and Tumblr channels for more objects from the Domond Papers.

A Connecticut native and the top-ranked guard in the country, Domond made headlines in 1994 when she chose to play basketball at the University of Iowa.

Iowa Hawkeyes 1994-1995 Game Program
Iowa Hawkeyes 1994-1995 Game Program

In her freshman season (1994-1995), Domond played on the last team coached by legendary women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer during her time at the University of Iowa. For the next three years, under head coach Angie Lee, Domond and the Hawkeyes won a Big Ten Championship and made it to the 1996 NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen round.

During this time, Domond also played for various USA Basketball teams, including the squad that won the silver medal in the 1997 Jones Cup. Domond graduated from the University of Iowa in 1998 with a degree in African American World Studies and Instructional Design. As of 2017, Domond held the number five spot in all-time Hawkeye women’s three-point shooting.

1997 USA Jones Cup Team

Domond was the nineteenth-overall pick in the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) 1998 draft, which was the WNBA’s second draft.

After a professional career overseas, she because the Head Coach for Grambling State’s women’s basketball team before joining longtime-Iowa coach Vivian Stringer at Rutgers University, where Domond now works as an Assistant Coach.

Thank you, Nadine, for letting the Iowa Women’s Archives be part of sharing your story and amazing accomplishments. And as we get ready to kick off another Olympic Games, we’ll let Nadine have the last word.

 

Let’s gooooo!!! 💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾 pic.twitter.com/aQe9vNA6KF

— Nadine Domond (@NadineDomond) November 8, 2017

Posted in From the collectionsTagged Christine Grant, Iowa Cornets, Janice Beran, Nadine Domond, Norma Peg Burke, UI department of PE for Women, women's basketball

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