A Pioneer in Women’s Collegiate Sports
March is Women’s History Month. Wesley Homes is proud to feature resident Marjorie Anderson as a pioneer in women’s collegiate sports. 
Listen to Marjorie’s first-person account of changes in women’s sports in the 60′s and 70′s. [display_podcast]
Marjorie Anderson is 80 and has lived comfortably in her two bedroom apartment at Wesley Homes Lea Hill since June of 2007. She and her late husband were among the first residents of Eby Lodge. “My daughter found this place for us,” said Marjorie, “It’s a beautiful home; a beautiful community really. We moved here from Cheney Washington, when my husband became ill with cancer.”
She and her husband were both educators teaching for Gonzaga and Eastern Washington University, respectively. Marjorie retired from Gonzaga University in 1986 as The Physical Education Director. Her 25 year career was distinguished by her precedent-setting accomplishments in promoting programs for Women’s Sports. “We laid the foundation for what happened nationally in women’s sports,” said Marjorie.
In the 60’s Marjorie was responsible for helping to start the Pine League in the Spokane area. This league, organized for college women’s sports, included Gonzaga University, Whitworth College, Eastern Washington University, Spokane Community College and North Idaho Community College. The Northwest College Women’s Sports Association (NCWSA) was organized in the late 60’s and Gonzaga Women’s Sports was involved in this new structure.
Marjorie served as President of the NCWSA in 1978-79. During this time the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was formed and offered national championships for women in athletics. When the AIAW was formed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was not interested in sponsoring championships for women. However, this all changed in 1982 when the AIAW ceased to exist and the NCAA took over the sponsorship for women’s athletic championship tournaments.
She recalled the controversy when Title IX was passed into law requiring that if money was spent on an activity for one sex, then the same amount of money needed to be spent for activities of the other sex. “There were some very aggressive women coaches at the time who felt they were entitled to half the money being spent on Men’s sports. I thought that attitude was wrong. The men had worked very hard all these years for their programs. That was when Title IX had to have some smoothing out to become what it is today; that men and women have to have an equal number of sports.”
Marjorie’s husband passed away six months ago from lymphoma cancer. The last two weeks of his life he was moved to the Wesley Homes Des Moines Campus. As difficult as a transition like that is, Marjorie remarked that she is grateful that her husband didn’t have to suffer the discomfort of moving into a strange facility owned by a different company.
Wesley Homes is truly a full service retirement community. Most companies only claim to offer full service care by virtue of networking with other companies; hence the continuity of care, the cultural environment and all familiar faces change with any move to a different facility. Wesley residents are insulated from that stress.
“I think being faith-based makes so much difference in the attitude and in the way patients are treated – and in the way Wesley Homes treats their help as well,” said Marjorie. “We truly feel we belong to a community.”
–Ilene Little for Wesley Homes
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Oh, I remember playing half court basketball at my high school in Tulsa, Ok., Marjorie, because they did not think girls had the “stamina” to run full court. Title 9 is to ME, the most important change to happen in my lifetime. I was a tomboy. I have no children, but my neice is a 14 year old tomboy, very active in Tulsa sports and now wanting to become a professional trainer for sports teams. I am always so proud to hear from her the many choices in sports she has to choose from at her school.
I was and am still active in many sports. I have a degree in Recreation, because I did not particulary want to be a p.e. teacher(sorry!), but I KNEW I had to be in a field that promoted health, recreation and sports for all ages and all sexes. Your profession and every p.e. teacher I ever had made a profound impact on my life. I thank heaven for growing up able to play sports, and to live an active recreation life both personally and professionally. It did not hurt me to also grow up with three younger brothers!!!!! I got PLENTY of competitiveness,exercise and love of sports from them, as well.
I honor you and the fight you lead to make women’s sports important to all future generations. I honor your profession as a p.e. teacher, knowing how many girl’s lives you impacted in a positive way as my p.e. teachers inspired me.
I would LOVE to meet you in person someday!!!
Go Marjorie!!!!!!!!!!
Sue Padden
Senior Services Manager
Des Moines Senior Center
March 5th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Thank you Marjorie for work toward bringing equality to women’s sports. I too remember playing half court basketball in college. We used to play the men’s team (for fun and a benefit for the sports program) and played the first half by women’s rules and the second half by the men’s rules. The men had a much harder time with our rules but the women truly were up to the task of playing them full court.
Title Nine was an important and historic act for women’s sports.
I disagree that men’s football team merits more dollars than the women’s programs because women didn’t want to play football.
Title Nine was needed even to give soccer, tennis, basketball, etc. an opportunity for women in other sports. Look what Billy Jean King did to promote equal dollars for women’s tennis. Sports were traditionally a man’s world but women have proved to the world they are able to succeed and bring in the spectators as well. Title Nine helped paved the way for this.
In Calfornia where I lived the women’s scullers had to put in the water at 5am rather than get time in the afternoon because that was the men’s time. Thanks to Title Nine the women were able to make a case that just because they were women they needn’t just take the left over time.
BTW – Women’s wrestling is a big sport in the Montana schools.
Thanks for helping to pave the way Marjorie. Let us all keep vigilent to keep women moving forward with equality in the world of sports.
Rev. Carol Shellenberger
Bozeman, Montana
March 25th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I really enjoyed reading this page…Thanks for this
April 10th, 2009 at 3:55 am
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scott
nursing careers
June 26th, 2010 at 6:44 am
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