Long tradition of female sport at Acadia to celebrate

October 14, during its annual Homecoming weekend, Acadia University took time to recognize and celebrate its long tradition of female athletes - a tradition dating back close to 100 years.

At a special Women in Sport celebration, the university honoured more than 150 female athletes, coaches and builders of women's sport at Acadia, spanning a period of more than 80 years; many of whom (mostly those of more recent vintage) were in attendance.

The celebration was long overdue. Women's sports at Acadia always seems to have taken a back seat to the men's endeavors - and in many cases, still do - but that doesn't mean there isn't a whole lot of history and achievement to celebrate.

The evening not only focused on “older�? sports like basketball (still played at Acadia), field hockey and swimming (which are not, at least not at the varsity level), but also “newer�? sports: soccer, volleyball, rugby and cross-country running.

It appears from “Hurrah Acadia,�? by Burton Russell, the definitive history of sport at Acadia published back in the mid 1980s; the first women's sport played at Acadia was basketball, being played prior to the start of World War I, in 1914.

The university had some great basketball teams and some great athletes, particularly in the 1930s when Acadia, led by such players as Jean Ingraham (Haley), Shirley Elliott and “Babs�? Harris (Murray); won several provincial and Maritime titles.

Women's basketball at Acadia has fallen on some hard times in recent years, but hopefully will soon be enjoying a resurgence under head coach Angie McLeod.

Other women's sports also have a strong tradition. Field hockey has not been played at Acadia for several years, but I recall it was still a varsity sport when I was a student in the 1970s. One heyday of the sport appears to have been in the mid-1960s, when players like Joan Aalund, one of the evening's honorees, led the Axette teams to some success.

The most successful women's sport at Acadia when I was a student was undoubtedly swimming. Acadia had both men's and women's swim teams in those years, but while the men were competitive, the women were something else again, winning six straight conference titles and back-to-back national championships in 1977 and 1978.

The names of the athletes on those teams still stir the memory, even if the faces might not anymore - Jill Taylor, Holly LeReverend, Penny Gaul, Roberta Thomson, Reenie Taylor, Wendy Stevens and Judy Bailey, to name just a handful.

A glimpse at the program from the Oct. 14 celebration shows several members of the national championship swim teams in attendance, showing they haven't forgotten Acadia, just as Acadia hasn't forgotten them or their accomplishments.

Also among the highlights of the history of women's sport at Acadia were the Laura Sanders-coached soccer teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s that won a string of conference titles, culminating in the CIS championship in 1990.

That team, being a little more recent in vintage, was also well-represented at the celebration, Several members of the 1990 team, including Dara (Moore) Ramirez and Lana (North) Burns, still make their homes in our area and maintain Acadia connections, Dara as women's soccer coach and Lana as wife of hockey coach Darren Burns.

The versatility of some of Acadia's best-known female athletes is evident in the fact they were recognized for more than one sport.

This list includes Betty Jean (Flieger) White (basketball and field hockey), Nancy (Logue) Sutherland (basketball and volleyball) and Ann (MacVicar) Mosher (basketball and volleyball): all recognized at the dinner, but by no means limited to those three.

In addition, some of Acadia's female athletes, while not starring on teams in their student days, have nonetheless gone on to great things in their chosen sports.

Professional golfer Lorie Kane is an Acadia graduate, as is fourteen-time Nova Scotia ladies' golf champion Kathy Powers. Winnie Horton, a basketball player during her student days, has also enjoyed some golf success, including a provincial senior title.

In terms of coaches, not all the women's teams at Acadia were coached by women, though many were. Among the female coaches recognized, most of whom coached at Acadia, were Sanders, Ramirez, Janice Cossar, Gi Forsyth and Elizabeth Vermeulen.

Among the male coaches of Acadia women's teams recognized was the late Jack Scholz, head coach of those championship women's swim teams in the 1970s and 1980s as well as the founding force behind Acadia's SMILE program. Fittingly for the evening, his widow, Maureen, represented Scholz at the ceremonies.