Women's Sports
Women's sports have changed drastically throughout the years. The changes have been anywhere from the uniforms to the ways the girls perform. It is a rough life for athletes, especially women, but it is greatly enjoyed by many. The following information is all about the changes that have taken place in women's sports at Dallastown since they first were allowed to show how much game they have.
To start off the long journey of changes, we need to know when the first teams were put together. "In 1965, Ruth Ann Arnold started out a little shaky when she stepped foot into the world of coaching. She was the first coach for field hockey and was followed by Sue Koller, then myself," quoted Jerri Meyers.
"Another coach was Paulette Henry, whom coached the first girls basketball team. And Miss Arnold did not sell herself short when it came to sports. Not only did she coach field hockey, she topped it all off with volleyball," mentioned Larry Adams.
Before the coaches had talked about which girls would be apart of the teams, of course, you need to know the number of teams you can have before you can pick the players. Mr. Adams stated, "At first there were only nine girls teams and now there are over twenty-four girls teams. The number of teams seem to grow from year to year because the skill level in the girls is raising tremendously."
The next item that is extremely important is any sport is the uniform. They all look different, but make everybody feel like a part of them. "In field hockey, the uniforms, in the early 1900's, were about only twelve inches above the toes. They were later shortened to above the knees so the girls could run faster and easier," replied Mrs. Meyers.
Mr. Adams added, "In basketball, during the first couple years, girls had to play in kilts (those like field hockey uses). After about two or three seasons the uniforms were changed to shorts and sleeveless jerseys."
Mrs. Meyers commented, "The goalies used to only wear the gloves and face masks for protection. Today they wear a glove, a chest protector, a mouth guard, and shin guards. The other players have just a stick and shin guards."
"They started with tunics. Under the tunics the girls wore tights and over the tunics the girls wore belts. A tunic is a white blouse with a black jumper. Now the girls, for volleyball, wear the shorts and shirts," continued Miss Arnold.
Other than the gigantic change in uniforms, the sports in general have many changes. The biggest change that was mentioned is the skill level of the girls. "They have been getting stronger and more aggressive on the courts and fields," uttered Mr. Adams.
Miss Arnold reported, "The girls show their aggressiveness well. They seem to be putting more power and energy into the games today. They also show their higher skill levels at practices more now than ever. They are more willing to practice on their own time other than the scheduled practices, which are everyday after school."
"After knowing all they had to go through, just to be on the team, the following girls wanted to be part of the very first volleyball team coached by myself," started Miss Arnold. "Their names are Fran Hershey, Karen Knaub, Jean Krieger, Diane Zarfoss, and Sue Koller. It's easy to remember these names because most of these girls played all of the sports and not just one."
"The girls wanted to show their athletics side could start playing field hockey, volleyball, and basketball in the early 1970's. The first junior high teams were started at about 1984-85," answered Mrs. Meyers.
As a whole, Dallastown girls have very impressive athletic skills. They have almost every sport play. Even though it started out a little shaky, a million women play sports to this day. It is easier for girls to play sports today because of a thing called equality. That means that if there are ten guys teams there has to be ten girls teams. This allows women to be more selective when they are picking which sport they want to play. It seems though, after hearing how hard it is to make the team, you need to prove that you really know what you are doing.
