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LHS celebrates Title IX and girls' sports

Lead Summary
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By
Lori Sorenson

As a Luverne High School athlete in the 1970s, Mary Jo (Iveland) Graphenteen and her female classmates weren’t allowed to play varsity sports.
They could play intramural bowling, gymnastics, archery and some basketball through GAA, the Girls Athletic Association. “I called it ‘Girls Always Asking’ for sports,” Graphenteen said.
She recalled the GAA sports being relegated to the “little gym with a slippery floor” while the boys commandeered the high school gym for games and practice.
“We got one hour in the big gym each week while the boys’ basketball team had a ‘chalk talk’ before their Friday night games,” Graphenteen said.
Then in 1972 federal legislation known as “Title IX” prohibited discrimination based on gender in education programs or activities that receive financial assistance from the federal government.
In Luverne, it changed girls’ sports forever.
 
Opportunities to succeed
By the spring of 1974 Luverne High School girls could join the track team, and by the fall of 1974, they could play varsity volleyball, tennis, basketball and gymnastics. Other girls’ sports came later.
After Title IX, Mary Jo played on Luverne’s first female varsity basketball team, which made it to state playoffs in a highly competitive district and region.
“We were lucky to win at those levels,” she said. “The teams were really good that first year.”
Their conference opponents were Pipestone, Marshall, Worthington and Redwood Falls. They beat an undefeated Southwest Christian to advance to region play and then state.
She hasn’t forgotten the thrill of earning a varsity sports trophy.
“Today we have 10 sports and several individuals and teams who have had the opportunity to hold a trophy because of Title IX,” Graphenteen said. “It’s every athlete’s goal to compete at the state level,” she said.
If Title IX hadn’t happened, she said she and her teammates wouldn’t have had that opportunity. 
“Today so many people don’t know what Title IX is and what it means,” she said. “Others today need to know who came before and helped make that happen.”
 
Telling the story
That’s why she was glad to help the Luverne Basketball Association and high school celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX Friday night.
Since the law passed, female participation in sports at the high school level has grown by 1,057 percent and by 614 percent at the college level, according to the LBA.
“It has accelerated change and created a legacy of diverse women leading on and off the court and playing field,” the group shared on social media.
Graphenteen teamed up with her high school basketball coach, Vicky (Birchard) Henderson, to prepare some history displays for Friday night.
“It was God’s timing,” Henderson said about her role in leading Luverne’s first high school girls’ basketball team.
“I played basketball in Iowa, and played in college, and came here to student teach. I hadn’t paid attention to Title IX until they asked me to coach.”
She said the coaching opportunity also led her to her husband, Roger, who drove the team bus.
“The girls on the team took credit for us getting together,” said her husband of 46 years. “So did the assistant coach, Tim Burns.”
Looking back, Graphenteen said she’s grateful to have benefited from Title IX, but she laments the fact that so many missed out.
“We have had a lot of talent at Luverne, and we had great teams,” Graphenteen said.
“But I can’t help but think of the really great athletes who didn’t get to do what the ‘74 basketball team got to do. I can’t help but think how good they could have been if given the chance.”
 
Recognizing trailblazers
In addition to Graphenteen, the team included Becky Arp (Eeten), Bonnie Gerloff (Steilow), Joanne Granneman (Fodness), Deb Hatting (Hill), Faye Hawkinson (Brown), Denise Junck (Lynott), Lisa Keitel, Lynette Kemerling, Peggy Mann (Raker), Karen Noll (Fey), Sharon Remme (Miller), Pam Thorson (Hommen), Pam Visker (Walgrave), Jill Wildung (Schmidt) and the late Kathy Thorson.
Managers were Joan Aanenson (Berry) and Patricia Teclaw, and scorekeeper was the late Calene Birky (Williams).
They were recognized during the Title IX 50th anniversary celebration during halftimes of the boys’ and girls’ double-header games.
Seven of them were present Friday and were introduced along with the seven current seniors on Luverne’s girls’ basketball team.
Other early trailblazers of Title IX included Jeanne Bowron (who helped lead most of the GAA activities and was assistant coach for varsity sports) and first-year head coaches of the five girls’ varsity sports.
Katie Hemme coached three of the five girls’ varsity sports, Dave Svingen coached tennis and Henderson coached basketball.
“It’s great to be part of history,” Henderson said. “It’s really been fun to have been part of it. It’s crazy to think it’s been 49 years for us.”
The Title IX displays and history of girls’ sports in Luverne are now available at the Rock County History Center.

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