Bowling Green State University Athletics
Title IX: A Look Back at Field Hockey
September 29, 2022 | General
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, BGSU athletics is taking a look at the history of women's sports throughout the years. The information in this series was lifted from the book 'Forward Falcons: Women's Sports at Bowling Green State University' written by Janet B. Parks, Ann Bowers, and Adelia Hostetler Muti. Forward Falcons documents and preserves the history of Bowling Green State University women's sports from 1914 through 1982. During these pre-NCAA years, women coached most of the teams, and organizations composed primarily of women set the program standards.
To read the entire book, you can go to:Â https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bgsu_books/3/
This series will also include some of our Heritage Sports and current teams.
Field Hockey
Carolyn Shaw, who arrived at BGSU in 1923, had attended three colleges in Massachusetts—Smith, Simmons, and Wellesley. Consequently, she had experience in field hockey and immediately began teaching it in physical education classes. As BG's first competitive sport for women, hockey quickly became very popular and retained this popularity for many decades. Throughout the area, hockey associations sponsored regional and national competitions at a variety of skill levels, and college players frequently were selected to play in those contests. It was no wonder, then, that BGSU field hockey flourished!
The earliest field hockey competition at Bowling Green was in the form of interclass and all-star games, with the first public interclass field hockey contest being played between the freshman and sophomore teams in the fall of 1926. This annual match-up continued until 1934, when the Homecoming game became a contest between a team of visiting alumnae and the regular season intramural champions.
The first dual intercollegiate sport competition for BGSU women occurred in 1935, when the WAA invited the University of Toledo to send a field hockey team to Bowling Green. A team of BG all-stars won the game by the score of 2-1. A Falcon field hockey club was organized in 1950, when a team went to the Great Lakes Sectional Hockey Tournament in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
In 1952, the Falcons won the Buckeye Field Hockey Tournament held at Denison University. As a result of their performance in the tournament, Nancy Terry, Patricia Daugert, Jo Case, Betty Thomas, and Sue Carlisle were selected for the Buckeye I team. Selections for the Buckeye II team were Mary Pollock, Mary Lou Kieffer, and Barbara Brown. At the Great Lakes Tournament held later in the season, Terry, Daugert, Case, and Thomas were selected to represent the University in the National Field Hockey Tournament held at Sweet Briar College in Virginia.
Under Coach Dorothy Luedtke, the 1961 team had a 4-0-1 record, defeating Wooster, Eastern Michigan, Michigan, and Ohio University while tying Kent State. Luedtke characterized the team as one of the best that BG had ever had: "Much of the success of the team is due to the large group of seniors on the team who have played together for four years. This year, the team just seemed to click and the defense and offense gelled with fine teamwork"
During the 1970s, several Falcon stickers were recognized as standouts. In 1972-73, Cindy Hubbard and Cindy Williman were named to the all-Ohio team, and in 1973 Lorraine Procacci, Karla Ewald, and Karen Williams were selected for the Buckeye II team. The following year, Ginny McGee, who had played hockey and lacrosse in Pennsylvania before coming to BG, was also tapped for the Buckeye II team.
Competing for the first time under NCAA rules and as a recognized Mid-American Conference sport, the Falcons lived up to Coach Pat Brett's expectations and had one of their best seasons ever. They posted an 11-6-3 record, had a streak of 14 games without a loss, held down the top spot in the MAC team standings for three weeks, and garnered a three-way tie for second place in the MAC tournament. Early in 1982, the BGSU field hockey tradition came to an end. In response to statewide budget cuts, the athletics department discontinued intercollegiate teams in field hockey, wrestling, and women's and men's indoor track.
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To read the entire book, you can go to:Â https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bgsu_books/3/
This series will also include some of our Heritage Sports and current teams.
Field Hockey
Carolyn Shaw, who arrived at BGSU in 1923, had attended three colleges in Massachusetts—Smith, Simmons, and Wellesley. Consequently, she had experience in field hockey and immediately began teaching it in physical education classes. As BG's first competitive sport for women, hockey quickly became very popular and retained this popularity for many decades. Throughout the area, hockey associations sponsored regional and national competitions at a variety of skill levels, and college players frequently were selected to play in those contests. It was no wonder, then, that BGSU field hockey flourished!
The earliest field hockey competition at Bowling Green was in the form of interclass and all-star games, with the first public interclass field hockey contest being played between the freshman and sophomore teams in the fall of 1926. This annual match-up continued until 1934, when the Homecoming game became a contest between a team of visiting alumnae and the regular season intramural champions.
The first dual intercollegiate sport competition for BGSU women occurred in 1935, when the WAA invited the University of Toledo to send a field hockey team to Bowling Green. A team of BG all-stars won the game by the score of 2-1. A Falcon field hockey club was organized in 1950, when a team went to the Great Lakes Sectional Hockey Tournament in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
In 1952, the Falcons won the Buckeye Field Hockey Tournament held at Denison University. As a result of their performance in the tournament, Nancy Terry, Patricia Daugert, Jo Case, Betty Thomas, and Sue Carlisle were selected for the Buckeye I team. Selections for the Buckeye II team were Mary Pollock, Mary Lou Kieffer, and Barbara Brown. At the Great Lakes Tournament held later in the season, Terry, Daugert, Case, and Thomas were selected to represent the University in the National Field Hockey Tournament held at Sweet Briar College in Virginia.
Under Coach Dorothy Luedtke, the 1961 team had a 4-0-1 record, defeating Wooster, Eastern Michigan, Michigan, and Ohio University while tying Kent State. Luedtke characterized the team as one of the best that BG had ever had: "Much of the success of the team is due to the large group of seniors on the team who have played together for four years. This year, the team just seemed to click and the defense and offense gelled with fine teamwork"
During the 1970s, several Falcon stickers were recognized as standouts. In 1972-73, Cindy Hubbard and Cindy Williman were named to the all-Ohio team, and in 1973 Lorraine Procacci, Karla Ewald, and Karen Williams were selected for the Buckeye II team. The following year, Ginny McGee, who had played hockey and lacrosse in Pennsylvania before coming to BG, was also tapped for the Buckeye II team.
Competing for the first time under NCAA rules and as a recognized Mid-American Conference sport, the Falcons lived up to Coach Pat Brett's expectations and had one of their best seasons ever. They posted an 11-6-3 record, had a streak of 14 games without a loss, held down the top spot in the MAC team standings for three weeks, and garnered a three-way tie for second place in the MAC tournament. Early in 1982, the BGSU field hockey tradition came to an end. In response to statewide budget cuts, the athletics department discontinued intercollegiate teams in field hockey, wrestling, and women's and men's indoor track.
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