Just for Fun: The Story of AAU Women's Basketball
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Prior to the 1972 passage of Title IX, women's basketball was a minor sport in the United States. It was played for companies such as Cook's Goldblume Beer and Sunoco and for obscure colleges such as Iowa Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist, as part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). But during the two generations of the mid-twentieth century, women's basketball improved and became more popular throughout the country. AAU All-Star teams dominated women's international basketball until the emergence of subsidized national teams in the 1960s.
The women who played on these AAU teams helped to lay the foundation for women's athletics today. Most of the teams came from central and southern states, and most of the players had rural origins. "Country girls" from Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas enjoyed an elite basketball that was unknown to their city sisters. The AAU formed several successful international teams of gifted players that gained fame abroad but were anonymous at home. Until nearly the last quarter of the century, skilled women basketball players had only one option after high school: the AAU.
This is the history of these gifted women, their coaches, and their teams--their records, motivations, and personal stories. JUST FOR FUN is the first book to thoroughly explore the complex history of the Amateur Athletic Union's women's basketball program and to bring to light the four decades of women's basketball all but forgotten in the current success of women's athletics.
From the Inside Flap
"Just for Fun is a wonderful tribute to a forgotten era of women's basketball. Dr, Ikard has painstakingly researched how a very important part of women's basketball came to exist, and has made it an exciting and fun read."--Sue Gunter, former Head Coach LSU Lady Tigers
"If there's anything you've ever wanted to know about women's amateur hoops, it's in Just for Fun. Ikard has done the homework, now you hoopheads can sit back and enjoy the ride."--Rick Telander, author of Heaven is a Playground and Sports Columnist, Chicago Sun-Times
Just for Fun: The Story of AAU Women's Basketball
Just for Fun: The Story of AAU Women's Basketball,Robert W. Ikard,University of Arkansas Press,155728783X,Amateur Athletic Union of the,Amateur Athletic Union of the United States,Basketball - College,Basketball - General,Basketball for women,History,Popular Culture - General,Sports,Sports & Recreation,United States,Women's Studies - General,Women's Studies - History
Just for Fun: The Story of AAU Women's Basketball
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