{"id":2064,"date":"2021-05-04T13:46:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T18:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/?p=2064"},"modified":"2023-08-07T11:25:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T16:25:49","slug":"janice-beran-and-the-persistence-of-6-on-6-basketball-in-iowa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/2021\/05\/04\/janice-beran-and-the-persistence-of-6-on-6-basketball-in-iowa\/","title":{"rendered":"Janice Beran and the Persistence of 6-on-6 Basketball in Iowa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This post was written by IWA Graduate Assistant, Erik Henderson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n

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Women practicing basketball, undated, Janice Beran papers, Box 3, Iowa Women’s Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

to vote. In 1934, Iowa transitioned into two-court, six-on-six women\u2019s basketball. However, the introduction of Title IX began to slow the popularity of 6-on-6 women\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1993, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Janice Beran delivered her speech \u201cWhy Only in Iowa North [illegible] of Sport History.\u201d It describes some key factors in why 6-on-6 women\u2019s 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 The Janice A. Beran papers primarily consist of published and unpublished articles, and research files concerning her work on women and African Americans in sport.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<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beran first positions the reader to consider the importance of high school sporting events to small towns. She wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pennant team cheering, February 1930, Janice Beran papers, Box 3, Iowa Women’s Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 6-on-6 basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/sup> century. She lists the ten reason as well as brief explanation (we list the first few), leaving the reader with possible future concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Male advocacy for girls\u2019 basketball was a principal factor. She mentions four men who \u201cwere instrumental in starting the federation and ensuring that girls had a competitive basketball program.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. There was no single dominant female physical educator in Iowa like in surrounding states; \u201cleading 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.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. In rural and small-town schools between 1920\u2019s-60s there was less demand on gym space. \u201cIn the small towns the girls\u2019 coach was often the boys\u2019 coach so it was simple for him to arrange for equal practice for both teams.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Basketball was not viewed as too physical[ly] taxing for girls in rural communities. \u201cDescendants of pioneers, rural women were accustomed to heavy farm work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. High schools became the hub of rural community life and \u201cbasketball for girls filled an entertainment void in rural communities.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The list above are just the first five reasons for the durability of Iowa women and girls\u2019 basketball. It details the collaborative effort not just from women athletes but also community members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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<\/a> and be the leading scorer for the Iowa women\u2019s basketball team as a freshman and hold two state records<\/a> for Iowa as a high schooler. Nor can we be Luka Garza<\/a>, named the best player in Iowa men\u2019s basketball history and named Player of the Year<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    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,Continue reading “Janice Beran and the Persistence of 6-on-6 Basketball in Iowa”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":2067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,182,237,355,354],"syndication":[20],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2064"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2248,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064\/revisions\/2248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2064"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=2064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}