Local Sports Report - Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

SEATTLE - Stephanie Urrutia, a senior from Sunnyside, topped 1,000points for her college career last Saturday in Seattle PacificUniversity's victory over Seattle University.

Urrutia, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored 18 points on 6-for-9 shootingfrom the field as the Falcons, ranked second in the nation among NCAADiv. II schools, improved their school-record unbeaten record to 16-0.

Urrutia, who also scored over 1,000 points during her high schoolcareer, entered the game needing eight points to reach the milestone.

She is averaging 12 points a game for SPU, which is 7-0 in theGreat Northwest Athletic Conference.

Women in Sports Celebration Saturday

ELLENSBURG - Central Washington University has announced acelebration of National Girls & Women in Sports day to be heldSaturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion.

The day was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to honor femaleathletic achievement and recognize the importance of sports andfitness participation for all girls and women.

The celebration will include instructional clinics in fivedifferent sports for girls ages 8-13 and their mothers.

The $10 registration fee includes lunch, two tickets to the CWUwomen's basketball game against Alaska Anchorage (scheduled for 7p.m.), guest speakers and an instructional clinic.

While the pre-registration deadline for ordering T-shirts haspassed, walk-up registration is encouraged, although phonereservations are required.

If Coe-Brown's no dynasty, how about a juggernaut? - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

How about these scores? Coe-Brown Academy girls' basketball team94, Pelham 22. Coe-Brown 74, Hillsboro-Deering 30. Coe-Brown 84,Newmarket 20. And these -- 78-15. 60-18. 58-15. 64-20.

In short, Coe-Brown girls a ton, opponents not much.

Tom Hall and his Comanches have built themselves a basketballpowerhouse on Route 4 between Concord and Dover.

There are more numbers. Coe-Brown had won 57 straightregular-season games, nine of them this year, going into Fridaynight's game at Farmington. It last lost a regular-season game onDec. 16, 1991, to Belmont. The Comanches have won the last two ClassM state championships. They have made the tournament in each ofHall's 15 years and this year will make it 16. They are 142-9 in theregular season in the last nine years.

And Amy Smith and the rest of the seniors are 61-2 in regularseason games during their careers.

A dynasty?

'I don't think so,' Hall said in his office after practice Tuesdayafternoon. 'I think we're incredibly competitive day in and day outand people know they have to compete with us for 32 minutes. But Ithink we're far from a dynasty. When I think of a dynasty I think ofJohn Wooden's UCLA teams or the Celtics. Now if you come and sithere six years from now and we're still winning . . .'

They just may be. Last year, Coe-Brown lost nine players from itsfirst state championship team of the year before and still wentundefeated in the regular season and, surprising many, won a secondstraight title. This year Hall has five seniors, three juniors(including 6-foot-2 1/2-inch Jen Robinson), four sophomores and fourfreshmen. The junior varsity was undefeated last year and is againthis year. And 77 girls from fourth to eighth grade attended lastyear's weeklong summer camp run by the varsity.

'It's tough to tell beyond the seventh grade, but with the kids inthe program, I think the next six to eight years look very strong,'Hall said.

Besides an intense and dedicated coach and athletes, the Comancheshave much going for them: They just opened a brand spanking-newgymnasium across the road from the academy, the school isprivate-public -- meaning it draws students from outside thedistrict as well as in -- and it offers no other winter sports forgirls so there is no competition for athletes.

If dynasty is not the word, juggernaut might be.

'A relentless and overwhelming force or movement,' is oneWebster's definition.

'Anything that elicits blind and destructive devotion or ruthlesssacrifice,' is another.

Anyone who has come up against Hall & Co. and their pressuredefense would have little argument with the first. The second mightgo a bit far, but you can bet the word ruthless has been used morethan once when coaches around the state have talked of Hall and hisprogram.

While giving him his due as a coach and applauding the talent andachievement of his players, not everyone is always thrilled with hismethods.

Hall knows that some feel he will run up the score. But he saysthat comes from looking at box scores in the paper.

His team has never scored 100 points. And won't, at least in theregular season, he said.

'And we certainly could have scored 120 or 130 in some games, butwe pulled back,' he said. 'I don't see the point, or any need forit. Although they have asked. We really do have some heart,contrary to what some people think.'

Hall grabs a scorebook and points out that his regulars are notscoring late in the game and that the scoring is well balanced. Hehas never had a player score more than 33 points in a game.

'And we hardly ever press more than a half,' he said. 'That'spretty tough to do when it's 37-7.'

But, yes, he wants his kids playing hard every minute of everygame. And he will have them running the offense and shooting at theend. And the defensive goal is always to keep a team under 10 forthe period -- in only five periods did teams score that many in thefirst 45 regular-season periods this year.

He wants them playing each period like it's 0-0 to start and towin each period. It's that focus that has helped the Comanches avoidletdowns -- no one has come closer than 34 points to them all year --while being the team that everyone wants to knock off.

'We don't really think about how much we're beating teams by,'said Amy Smith. 'It's more how we played. Even if we beat a team by40, we know if we didn't play as well as we could.'

You can't worry about pounding a team, she said.

'You feel a little bad,' she said. 'But Coach Hall says we needthat animal instinct to put teams away. You don't really think aboutit.'

And the Comanches continue to put teams away.

They have a test coming up with two of their next three games --at home Thursday and in Weare Jan. 24 -- against powerful John Stark,a team they picked up this season.

Soon it will be tournament time and a whole new set of challenges.

There are too many teams (27) in Class M to have a good read onwho can do what going into the tournament, Hall said.

Coe-Brown, White Mountains and John Stark were all undefeated, andLittleton, Belmont and Conant had one loss entering last week. Lastyear, Coe-Brown needed a ferocious rally to beat Littleton in theclosing minutes of its semifinal game.

Are the Comanches on their way to a third straight title?

'We're not as beatable as some other teams,' Hall said. 'But Idon't know. I haven't seen Littleton or Conant or John Stark yet.It's so difficult to get a handle on all the teams. But we're verytalented. I do know that.'

Score another for the St. Anselm men's basketball team for its90-84 win at New Hampshire College Monday in the latest installmentof one of the finest rivalries around.

'Any time you can go into their gym and beat them, it's a qualitywin,' said St. Anselm coach Keith Dickson. 'It shows the mark of amature, experienced team to go into someone else's building and andbe tough enough to win. I didn't think we played a great basketballgame, but we played well when we needed to down the stretch.'

The win, their second over NHC this year, should gain the Hawkssome respect nationally, as well as locally, Dickson said.

GYMNASTS ARE BEAMING OVER NEW TEAM'S SUCCESS - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

LAWRENCE - For three years, since they were freshmen, JacquelynRudis and Kellie Ryan wrote letters. They wrote to the CentralCatholic High School principal, the athletic director, theadministration, the board of directors. They wrote to anyone whomattered.

Their letters all asked for the same thing: that Central Catholicinstitute a girls gymnastic team.

Dozens of letters and stamps later, their perseverance has paidoff.

Rudis and Ryan are seniors now and cocaptains of CentralCatholic's first girls gymnastics team, and the two bubbled withenthusiasm after Central defeated Pope John of Everett this month inthe school's inaugural meet.

'It's like a dream come true, finally,' said Rudis, who lives inNorth Andover. 'I'm disappointed I'll only be in the program oneyear, but I'm happy that we finally have a gymnastics team. I wouldhave really been disappointed if we got it after I graduated. Butit's good for my sister [Annaliese], who's just a sophomore. She'llhave three years.'

Ryan, who comes from Dracut, was just as enthusiastic.

'It's so amazing to be a part of the first team,' she said.'Jacquelyn and I have been trying to get one started for so long. Wewrote so many letters. Years from now, I'll be able to say I wascocaptain of the first Central Catholic team.' Ryan will also be ableto add that she was the first winner on the balance beam and all-around.

The letters Rudis and Ryan wrote prompted Central Catholicofficials to conduct a schoolwide survey asking students which girlssports should be added. Gymnastics was a close second to field hockeyand was chosen because the school offered just three winter sportsfor girls basketball, indoor track, and cheerleading. Field hockey,as well as lacrosse, which finished third in the survey, will beconsidered down the road, said athletic director Peter Paladino.

'Since going coed eight years ago, we've tried to match up as manygirls sports as we could,' said Paladino. 'We want the girls to haveequal opportunities. We made good matches with cross-country, soccer,volleyball, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, tennis, andsoftball. We didn't have anything for the girls equivalent tofootball or ice hockey or wrestling. In looking at the whole picture,there were less programs for the girls. As Central Catholic grew, wewanted to increase the opportunities.'

Once Central Catholic officials gave gymnastics the go-ahead, theattention then turned to finding a coach. That, said Paladino, provedto be a bit easier than they had anticipated.

Caitlin Worth, 23 and fresh out of Ithaca College with a degree inmath, had applied for a teaching position. During the interviewprocess, she said she had a gymnastics background and expressed aninterest in the job.

Worth 'went through the coaching interview process, and it waslike, `Wow,' she just knocked our socks off,' said Paladino. 'It wasgreat knowing that we could have a coach who was also a teacher inthe system. That's a big plus.'

Worth, who was an All-Conference gymnast at Masconomet RegionalHigh School and then competed during her junior and senior years atIthaca, said she expected maybe 15 to 20 girls to report to the firstpractice. Instead, she got 35. That number forced her to make somehard decisions, such as how many girls to carry on the roster, andhow to, if needed, make painful cuts.

'The team basically ended up putting itself together,' said Worth,who wound up with a roster of 18, consisting of three seniors, fourjuniors, nine sophomores, and two freshmen. 'You could tell who wascommitted. They were the ones that showed up every day. There weresome who'd come occasionally and some who never showed up at all. Itmade our decisions a lot easier.'

Worth had four weeks to prepare for the historic opener againstPope John and said it was a bit more difficult than it should havebeen because of new rules that went into effect this year. Instead ofusing Level 9 USA Gymnastics rules that apply skill levels like A, B,C, D, and E, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Associationdecided to go with National High School Federation rules, which applyskill levels including medium, superior, high superior, and bonushigh superior.

'We got our routines to match up pretty well with the new rules,'said Worth. 'It was the judges that seemed to have more difficulty.Our meet with Pope John lasted more than three hours because theyjust weren't sure how to apply the rules. Under the old rules, themeet probably would have been complete in less than two hours.'

Nonetheless, Central Catholic prevailed, 128.55 to 119.75, and thefirst winners included Ryan in the all-around and beams, AnnalieseRudis in the vault and floor exercises, and Alison Conway of Lowellon the bars.

'I knew they had the talent to perform, but I didn't know how theywould compete,' said Worth. 'They really rose to the occasion. Theyall hit their routines at the same time. They proved themselves toughcompetitors. I was happy and relieved when the meet was over. Winningour first meet is something none of us will forget.'

Crestwood Board Votes To Eliminate 9 Positions - Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA)

E.J. Gall has limited vision in one eye, and cannot play sports.His mother, Gayle, said the only extra-curricular activity E.J. canparticipate in is band and chorus.

Gall and about three dozen parents and students - includingseveral in the third grade - pleaded with the Crestwood School Boardin a three-hour marathon meeting to save the elementary musicteaching position, seven other teaching positions and a middleschool nurse.

Facing a $1 million deficit, the board voted 5-3 - with onemember absent - to slash nine teaching positions, including sixelementary school teachers. Superintendent Dave McLaughlin-Smithsaid the elementary music program will be 'altered,' but did notknow how Thursday.

Board members Ken Malkames, Bill Thomas and Dave Ralston votedagainst the teacher cuts.

The board voted 6-2, with Malkames and Ralston voting no, toapprove the $32 million budget, which maintains the current 9.16-mill property tax rate.

The elementary music school teacher's position was eliminated,but she will bump into the position of another teacher who had lessseniority.

Several students and parents said music and other extra-curricular activities are an integral part of the education process.

They not only pleaded to save the elementary music program, whichconsisted of a band and a chorus, but also pleaded to save middleschool foreign languages and sports. But McLaughlin-Smith said thoseprogram would not be affected by the budget.

One Crestwood graduate said his discovery of music led him tobecome a music major in college.

Several of the parents who spoke said they would rather payhigher taxes to maintain the level of education Crestwood has becomeknown for.

At the beginning of the meeting, Malkames said he wanted to tablethe action so that the board could further examine the budget, tosee if the changes proposed could be altered.

If the board is able to find funds to save the positions, thebudget could be altered, Thomas said before voting.

One diabetic eighth-grader said she needs the middle school nursewhen she feels ill.

One cheerleader said she and her group paid most of theirexpenses out of pocket. A softball player, the last speaker, criedas she said her sport, cheerleading and field hockey were the onlysports for girls.

The evening began at 5 p.m., when about two dozen parents andteachers picketed in front of the high school along state Route 309with signs that had 'Kids, Cuts and Compassion' printed on them, andother messages about cutting the programs handwritten in blackmarker.

Title IX's impact goes far beyond athletics for girls - Charleston Daily Mail

The sight of little girls running up and down a basketball courtor soccer field is so common these days that it is hard to imagine atime when they were not playing sports.

Scouting services focusing on the promotion of female high schoolathletes to college coaches are almost as common as ones touting thenext Heisman Trophy candidate.

Teenage girls now have college coaches attending their games,sitting in their living rooms offering scholarships and trying tosell their colleges just like the boys.

In reality though it was not very long ago at all that thingswere very different for girls.

June 23 marked the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixonsigning the Education Act of 1972 into law.

Title IX of that Act reads, 'No person in the United Statesshall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, bedenied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under anyeducation program or activity receiving federal financialassistance.'

Neither sports nor athletics are mentioned among those 37-words.Yet Title IX has become the bedrock upon which female sports hasgrown exponentially in the United States.

That simple statement led to monumental changes affecting helives of millions of young girls.

'It gave me the opportunity to go to college,' former Dunbar Highand University of Charleston star basketball player Cathy (Burke)Widdecombe said. 'My parents probably could not have afforded tosend me without that scholarship.'

She played on one of the first high school state championshipteams in the fall of 1976.

Just how many lives did Title IX effect?

During the 1971-72 school year 294,015 girls took part in highschool sports in the United States.

'In those days girls just wanted the opportunity to play,' formerCharleston Catholic girls basketball Coach Frank Scagnelli, Jr.,said. 'Then parents realized there was the opportunity to getscholarships and that was a big plus.'

Title IX gained some teeth in 1992, when courts determinedmonetary damages could be awarded as a result of suits based on thelaw.

In the college ranks women saw a 70 percent increase inscholarship money, a 45 percent increase in head coaches' salaries,and a 75 percent increase in assistant coaches' salaries by 1997.

With high schools forced to offer more girls sports programs andcolleges forced to offer more females scholarships the number ofgirls playing prep sports took off.

By 2011 the number of girls participating in prep sports hadrisen to 3,173,549 according to the National Federation of StateHigh School Associations.

That is to say that in 1972 one out of 27 high school girlsparticipated in sports compared to one in three today.

Some sports also played by boys really took off.

There were 132,299 girls playing high school basketball in 1972.That had increased to 438,933 by 2011.

A total of 26,010 were playing tennis, 17, 952 volleyball and9,813 softball. Those numbers increased to 182,074 for tennis,409,332 for volleyball, and 389,455 for softball.

'It's amazing how girls sports have grown,' Widdecombe said. 'Tosee how many girls get to play and can even go on and playprofessional ball.'

The impact of Title IX was felt most in West Virginia when thestate Supreme Court ruled in July of 1994 that the then fall girlshigh school basketball season discriminated against girls andrequired the season to be moved to the winter.

'Perhaps, more compelling than any unfairness to actual femalebasketball players is the message this scenario conveys to girls ingeneral, that girls' sports are second class, that boys takepriority as to use of sports facilities and resources, and girlstake the leavings,' Justice Margaret Workman wrote, speaking for the4-1 majority.

This past school year 12,689 girls participated in high schoolsports in West Virginia compared to approximately 2,000 in 1972.

Once sports for girls began being added in state high schoolsthere were not too many problems, at least not locally.

'I never had any problems,' former George Washington and CapitalHigh girls basketball Coach Terry Ferrell said. 'I was blessed towork with good guys coaches at both schools and we always alternatedpractice times.'

That does not mean girls were accepted into the sports world aseasily everywhere in the state.

'It didn't really affect me,' former George Washington girlsbasketball Coach Bob Neely said. 'But I think some of the othercoaches had to really scrounge around to even get basketballs.'

He did recall one prominent booster complaining about his girlsteam asking for $300 to go to the state tournament in Buckhannon inthe late 1970s.

'That changed when his granddaughter played years later,' Neelysaid. 'He was for the girls having everything they wanted then.'

As recently as 1998 the Mercer County School Board and PrincetonHigh were sued due to inequalities between the school's baseball andsoftball programs.

Since then a new softball field has been built.

While the number of girls playing high school sports continues tolag behind the number of boys the difference has been cut to about1.2 million with 1.1 million of those boys playing football, a sportthat has no similar female equivalent.

The impact of Title IX goes far beyond the courts and playingfields.

It is also credited with lowering the dropout rate of girls fromhigh school and increasing the number of women who pursue highereducation and obtain college degrees.

According to a recent Sports Illustrated story before Title IX, 7percent of new lawyers and 9 percent of new doctors were women;today the figures are 47 percent and 48 percent.

All because of 37 seemingly simple words.

Raising hope; 40 YEARS OF TITLE IX IN SPORTS.(Sports) - The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA)

Byline: Jayda Evans; Seattle Times staff reporter

On a casual Wednesday afternoon, 13-year-old Kaya Dumas is surrounded by family at her grandmother's home in Richmond, B.C. Photo books by Annie Leibovitz are on the coffee table and a hint of wisteria lingers in the air from the garden off the kitchen porch.

It's an artistic environment created by the family for Nami -- that's what they call grandma Marcia Brodie -- who was diagnosed with breast cancer in April.

The house is just a visible bond, created through the frequent trips from Seattle to help care for Marcia as she undergoes chemotherapy treatments. But family members have already cultivated a warrior spirit from Nami through sports.

Funny, they're just starting to see it.

'Nami, whose face is covered in wrinkles invisible to me.' -- A poem Kaya wrote for school, taking extra time to glue it to orange paper, her grandmother's favorite color, and adorn it with sparkly butterflies.

When too often women and sports get tangled up in conversations about numbers and statistics -- how many fans were in the arena, or the TV ratings -- Kaya and her family are examples that it's simpler -- and deeper -- than that.

'Oh, you better watch out for number 12,' says Kaya, a 5-foot-7 curly topped basketball player with big dreams.

No. 12 is the family number, starting with her grandfather, John Gillies, and passed through her mother, Michelle Dumas, before landing on Kaya's back. And now Kaya is simply a young Seattle basketball player, one of hundreds of thousands of girls who play basketball in America. One of the millions who participate in sports nationally.

And even though she might barely understand Title IX, the law that celebrates its 40th anniversary Saturday, she and her family have been influenced by it.

The challenge now, even as Kaya and other children enjoy their opportunities, is to encourage others to join in and play.

'Sport is such an esteem-building way of living your life and having that support on so many levels. Why not encourage it?' asks Marcia, 65, who put all four of her children in sports until they opted out. Two still haven't, Michelle and her brother Geoff.

'Look at the age that these kids are participating but look at the number of kids that just don't have the opportunity,' she continues. 'That's where we fall down and draw the line between elitism and just having fun and learning a skill and feeling wanted and needed. ... There's maybe a little too much emphasis on being the best. That kills it for some kids who don't have parents behind them to say, 'That's OK. Just go and have fun.' '

Encouraged by her mother and grandmother, Kaya doesn't have to worry about being the best.

During the day, she and her friends snap bubble gum, wearing the latest fashion trends as they walk the hallways of their middle schools. At night, they slip into the latest basketball gear to snap nets.

Not that everything is all buttons and bows. Participation in sports for girls has grown exponentially since Title IX became law in 1972. But there still are inequalities in inner cities, where transportation or financial hardships might prevent children from opportunities to enjoy sports' benefits.

'The next layer to this (Title IX) is more of a shift in perspective,' says Michelle Dumas, Kaya's mother, a former athlete and now a coach. 'And it'll change more as women do more. A shift in being on the outside of the window looking in saying, 'Man, I wish I could do that. Those are elite things going on in there.' To, 'Where can I get a ball so I can try, too?' It's a shift in culture.'

Michelle Dumas began with an inquisitive letter and willingness to coach a girls team through the A-Plus program at Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club. Her persistence, combined with charitable donations from Microsoft guru Steve Ballmer and hoops star Brandon Roy, helped establish a team that focuses on academics and basketball -- in the third year after the launch for two boys teams.

Kaya is a participant, earning a 3.92 GPA and scoring 17 points in a big victory in a game at Nathan Hale High School last month. But her team is no mere spinoff from the boys.

In fact, the girls make sure to include 'Lady' in their team rally cheer to make the distinction clear. And no one cares about the old fight to rid women's sports of that term.

As part of the A-Plus program, there's a post-practice meal that quickly becomes a talent showcase. One girl provides beats, another raps lyrics and others dance to the music.

Girls will console their teammates if someone had an emotional day at home or school. Michelle, and Eric Bakke, the co-coaches who often act like co-parents to the girls of diverse backgrounds, might prompt conversations by asking questions about life or silly things like which cartoon character they would marry.

'Mine would be Beast,' says Michelle, 41, referring to the fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast.'

Michelle, who has been divorced for seven years, is raising three children in Seattle. It's no mystery her daughters, Kaya and 10-year-old Ysabella, and 11-year-old son Xavier, are passionate about basketball.

Michelle was born in Canada but spent time in the United States as a child due to her stepfather's job as an engineer and surveyor. She played whatever she could, starting with softball but loving basketball the most.

'We had to hit off a tee and I wanted them to throw me the ball,' Michelle says of her time with a California girls softball team. She didn't like that her team was given T-shirts as uniforms, while her brother's team had full baseball gear. 'I have flashbacks thinking about it. I remember being that age and being annoyed.

'I never touched a basketball until eighth grade. I think about that today when I look at these girls. If I had a basketball when I was in third grade, I just think, an Olympic team, a professional team, no problem. I'm bitter. I would have loved to have had that perspective then. To know there were more options. But if you don't have the right person giving you the information, your world can be very small. In a lot of ways, my world was small in women's athletics.'

Michelle played volleyball, basketball and softball in high school in Canada, then played basketball at the University of British Columbia.

Her mother's sports world was even smaller. Marcia Brodie felt an athletic rush at the age of 9 when she was taught how to swing a golf club at a Vancouver, B.C., golf and country club. But when her first swing sent a ball sailing through a decorative windowpane above the clubhouse, she wasn't taken in and trained like a future Tiger Woods.

Aside from occasional trips to another local club to play during 'kids hours,' Marcia didn't really play sports again until high school, when she fell in love with field hockey and joined a community softball team. But at school she was at the mercy of the skill level of her PE teachers. And if PE was rhythmic gymnastics that quarter, that's what the group of girls learned.

'Those of us who were just dying to go outside and whack a ball suffered,' she says of the era. 'We were made to feel thrilled that we got a T-shirt and a hat. Where the boys were praised. It was a different time of life, it really was.'

Now, through Kaya, Marcia she sees her old instincts to be a rancher, not a rancher's wife, or athlete and not a passer-by, weren't so strange after all. Marcia even acted on some desires, working in the Arctic and living off the land at times.

'When I stop to think about where I've been and what I've done, I've done a lot of things that a lot of women wouldn't even consider,' she says. 'I was never sure, until very recently, that it was right, which is weird.'

Through the stories shared on that Wednesday afternoon, Kaya frequently interjects how her friends wouldn't put up with not having the same uniforms as boys. And imagining a world without the ability to play basketball?

'It would be aggravating and make me feel like I couldn't get out of a box,' she says.

Kaya shares her own stories with her gift of writing, dreaming of a profession that includes chronicling world travel while playing basketball. It's a dream that also has natural family roots, given her great-grandfather was a newspaperman in Vancouver.

Her dreams are able to flourish, her mother and grandmother insist, because of the Title IX legislation.

Still, on that spring day, Kaya's path is unpredictable. For now, she's simply one benefactor of a movement in which possibilities are endless if given a chance.

'It will,' Kaya says of Title IX truly creating equality in her future. 'People aren't as crazy about not letting girls do things or thinking they're not as good as boys because so many (women) have already done so much more than before.'

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com.

On Twitter @JaydaEvans

CAPTION(S):

Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times: A family portrait of Marcia Brodie, 65, of Richmond, B.C., her daughter Michelle Dumas, 41, of Seattle, right, and Michelle's two daughters, Kaya Dumas, 13, front, and Ysabella Dumas, 10, back. (0421544092)

All should be outraged by IHSA photo restrictions.(Neighbor)(Cul-de-sacs) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Joni Hirsch Blackman

Lots of capital letters in any story often cause my eyes to glaze over. Much of what happens between big groups often has nothing to do with those of us just living our lives in the suburbs.

But don't make the mistake of overlooking the recent lawsuit filed by the Illinois Press Association against the Illinois High School Association. This is something that affects any of you whose children participate in school activities.

It affects others as well. This lawsuit is about whether the IHSA has the right to control photographs taken at state events. As of now, the group restricts use and re-sale of photos taken by journalists at these events to those printed in traditional newspapers.

But part of the justification of doing so is that professional sports associations do the same thing. I, as a taxpayer and parent of Illinois students, would like to announce to the IHSA - which, it seems, should be working in the best interests of our children - that my children are not professional anything and I'd prefer to keep it that way.

The creep of everything in life going lower and lower each year has got to stop somewhere and this is as good a place as any to start.

High school events are not professional sports. The children and young adults who participate are not paid to do so and their parents - and, by proxy, the newspapers whose photographers can get close enough to take great photos - should be able to do so without restriction.

Someone I respect enormously - Sue Schmitt, publisher of the State Journal-Register in Springfield - was quoted in the Daily Herald's editorial about the subject. She said, 'The high school sports we cover, to me, is something we do for the community and definitely not something we do as a financial windfall for us.'

The papers want to be able to provide readers with what they know we want - coverage of high school activities. The IHSA, as a public, non-profit entity, should understand and encourage that, not restrict it.

My own recent encounter with this subject enhances my outrage. Last spring, as I wrote at the time, my son was on a high school team that went to state.

This is a long-hoped-for and never truly expected event in any family's experience and, of course, the photo opportunities are precious.

(OK, anyone who knows me is laughing at this point. I find precious photo-taking opportunities on a daily basis, but I'm talking normal people, not camera addicts, here.)

Many of us took photos from the stands before, during and after the games. But at this indoor event, when my son and his team were being honored at the quintessential moment of Americana - the medal stand, where each boy had a medal placed over his head - the lights in the gymnasium were turned off.

Turned off.

I was dumbfounded. It was too late to re-situate myself closer and, indeed, there was no available place to stand near the ceremony in the dark, except for the 'official' photographer.

There was one light on, where the 'official' photographer stood and took photos of the boys on the stand, and of the group as they held their trophy. I took photos, but they are very dark and somewhat blurry; the best I could manage on short notice with a long lens.

The only consolation was I assumed I'd eventually be offered these photos at some exorbitant price. The kicker was, while many photos were available at a hefty cost online, none from the medal stand were even there. Perhaps even the 'official' photographer didn't get any usable photos under those lighting conditions.

Whether the local photojournalists got any photos of the boys on the medal stand, I don't know, because the use of their photos is restricted.

I was and am appalled at a public entity whose non-profit purpose is to 'regulate interscholastic competition in 13 sports for girls, 13 sports for boys and seven non-athletic activities.'

Moreover, the IHSA board consists of taxpayer-paid (at least the public school ones) principals of the 750 public and private schools who are members.

I know from comments received from parents whose boys were on my son's team that all most parents want is a simple photo of their child at the final moments of a state competition. Doesn't seem to be too much to ask.

Let this public group know how you feel about them regulating the photographic opportunities of your, or any, children.

Travis retirement will take another pioneer in girls sports.(Sports Extra) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: John Leusch Daily Herald Sports Writer

One of the pioneers of high school girls sports in the Daily Herald area will be leaving the coaching ranks this June.

Joanne Travis, the first girls sports coordinator at Forest View High School, is retiring after 31 years in District 214 and two years in District 211.

She has coached volleyball, badminton, track and field, tennis and softball in her 33-year career.

'Today's girls have so many more opportunities than when girls sports were started in the 1970s,' Travis said.

'They now can continue on after high school, whether it's Division I, II or III and play the sports they love. Back then, after you finished high school, it was over. A lot of them are coming back now and coaching, too.'

Travis said she had to laugh when a student recently approached her and asked where she played college sports.

'I said they didn't have them for girls back then,' she said. 'He gave me a puzzled look and I just repeated that there were no sports for girls then.

'Of course, we're talking about 17- and 18-year-old kids so they have no clue whatever how things were back then.'

Travis is greatly impressed by today's athletes.

'The level of skills today is unbelievable,' she said. 'And obviously, the coaching is better than it was back then.

'I'm really happy for the young ladies to have these opportunities today. I was just a small part of helping develop it and I'm happy I was able to have that small part.'

Travis had not even started kindergarten when she knew she was going to be a physical education teacher.

'My mother and the mother of Ron Ashley (former Prospect boys basketball coach) were good friends,' Joanne said. 'I even remember his mother saying you should be a physical education teacher. I was probably 4 or 5 years old. If nothing else, that rang a bell for me. So I did it.'

Joanne graduated from Palatine High School in 1963 and then studied physical education at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Ohio.

In 1968, she was offered a job at Palatine High School to direct pom poms and orchesis.

Joanne's mother, Doris, was the secretary to longtime Palatine athletic director Chic Anderson.

'I didn't want to work there because it was too confusing with my mom already there, but they really needed a person so I finally agreed,' she said. 'I really didn't know a thing about pom poms or orchesis.

'But, thank God, the kids knew what they were doing. In our generation, we had to learn on the job because we never had anyone coaching us when we were in school. We hadn't been coached then like the boys.'

In the fall of 1970, Travis accepted a physical education position at Forest View, along with the head coaching position for badminton and tennis. She was there until the school closed in 1986 and then transferred to Elk Grove.

In 1973, her Elk Grove track and field team tied Wheeling for the Mid-Suburban League championship and placed fourth in the first state meet for girls. That team included state discus champion Vanessa Calabrese.

'Daryl Phillips (a boys track and field coach) helped me a lot with Vanessa,' Joanne said. 'I was fortunate to have some very good athletes come out for track and field. And they did an excellent job.'

In those early day of girls sports, Travis, like many coaches, ran two girls sports programs in the same season. She would direct track and field practice in the morning and then badminton after school.

One of her major contributions was starting club volleyball for area high school girls. They were able to develop their skills during the off-season.

Travis and a partner directed the River Rapids Club, which operated at Lyons Township. Some Members of Rolling Meadows' 1979 state runner-up volleyball team participated in the club.

Travis, currently Elk Grove's freshman boys volleyball coach, plans to move to Arizona for her retirement years and play plenty of golf.

'The reason I was in this job all these years was to give the girls the opportunities that we were not given in years past,' she said.

'That's why all of us (the pioneers) did it so long - to give these young ladies a chance.

Very soon it'll be Krupke Stadium Ex-coach's name to be the first to adorn a Lake Park High building.(News) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Mike Burke Daily Herald Staff Writer

It might be the ultimate honor for a high school coach and athletic director.

Lake Park High School in Roselle will name its east campus stadium after Ralph Krupke, who taught and coached for 33 years.

This is the first time Lake Park has recognized a person's contributions in such a way. No other building or part of the school is named in someone's honor.

Before his retirement in 1992, Krupke taught gym and driver education at Lake Park. He served as the school's athletic director for 28 years and coached wrestling, track and football.

The decision to honor Krupke was prompted by a small group of students who took on the cause as a class project.

Krupke says that makes the honor even more rewarding. Because of the students he got to know at Lake Park over the years, he said he couldn't imagine a more satisfying career.

'If I had it to do over again, I'd do the same thing,' he said.

The stadium and school were three years old when Krupke was hired in 1959. At that time, Lake Park offered no sports for girls.

Krupke said he was proud to oversee that addition.

'The development of a girls program was rewarding,' he said. 'Fortunately, we had an administration that really supported athletics for girls.'

Krupke, 65, said he never imagined the school's stadium would bear his name.

'We just felt he deserved to have something named for him,' said Kyle Petranoff, a senior from Bloomingdale and one of the students behind the effort. 'Because of his involvement in athletics, we thought an athletic facility was appropriate.'

Petranoff and five other students in a contemporary issues class at Lake Park's west campus made Krupke their class project. Their teacher, Ken Evans, suggested topics, including a study of Lake Park's history and the identification of a person to be recognized.

The students interviewed many people who know Krupke, including his wife, Pat.

'Of all the people we talked to, no one had a bad thing to say about him,' Petranoff said.

Other members of the group were Kirby Daniels, Mike Muscari, Pete McCarthy and Janelle Myers. As part of their research, the students sent an e-mail to every teacher in the school asking for their thoughts about Krupke.

'Everyone called him 'Mr. Lancer,' ' Muscari said.

One teacher responded that if Krupke ever got cut, he would bleed the blue and white colors of the school.

'That's how much he loves Lake Park,' Petranoff said.

The students eventually made a presentation to a school improvement committee, which liked the idea and forwarded the recommendation to the District 108 board, which this week approved the name week.

The students have yet to meet Krupke, who was kept in the dark about the project until the board's decision.

The stadium will be rededicated in Krupke's honor next fall, after a $936,000 renovation. The stadium, built in 1956, was the school's first football field. It now is used for track and varsity soccer games. Football games moved to the west campus when it opened in 1975.

When Krupke Stadium reopens in the fall, the soccer field will have been rebuilt over a new irrigation and drainage system. A new, all-season track also will be built around the field, along with long jump, pole vault, shot put and discus areas.