In the 1963-64 academic year, Women’s Varsity Athletics at Springfield College officially began with field hockey, basketball, softball, and tennis. These teams ushered in a brand new era at Springfield College. Advances in the women’s sports program have continued ever since. Our female athletes and coaches have become great leaders in the sports world.
HistoryPin
From 2010 through 2013 the Archives and Special Collections worked with Dr. Mimi Murray and the graduate students in her Heritage and Values of Sport and Physical Education course to research the history of the Women's Varsity Athletics at Springfield College. Designed to teach students about the cultural heritage and values of human movement and sport from a philosophical and historical perspective, the projects tried to add to the class, by tapping into that well-spring of "Spirit" inherent in cultural and historical study. Using real-life examples they strived to help stimulate discussion and passions, as well as teach historical research methods. In the Spring of 2013, a special Heritage and Values class and the College Archivist created "tours" on the historical social media site HistoryPin to showcase this research. The "Tours" used photographs and documents from the College's Archival collections to tell the history, or historical tale, of four of the early SC Women's Varsity Athletics Teams, including Basketball, Field Hockey, Gymnastics, and Softball. Enjoy these wonderful "Tours" to view and learn about the early SC teams and the amazing athletes and coaches who made the history. Feel free to share your own stories, correct us where we went wrong, or link us to other stories that add to our understanding in the "Collections" that have been created from these tours. Truly, we welcome all comments, questions, and stories about the photographs and documents shown!
- Women's Basketball Tour and Collection (created by Aimee Pascale)
- Field Hockey Tour and Collection (created by Elisabeth Macrum)
- Women's Gymnastics Tour and Collection (created by Emily Hildebrand)
- Softball Tour and Collection (created by Luke Darling)
- Varsity Athletics Collection and Map
Digital Collections
Below are links to digitized items from the archives that relate to our celebration of fifty years of Women's Varsity Athletics at Springfield College. Some of the items include team photographs, newspaper articles, rosters, brochures, plaques, action photographs, and videos of games (like a performance at the 1968 DGWS Intercollegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships).
This image shows members of an early women's basketball team at Springfield College, pre-1963.
