Norm Carlson Looks Back.. - Women's Athletics (PT II)
Wednesday, February 25, 2004 | General
(Second in A Series)
 | The women's intercollegiate athletic program at Florida, which began competition during the school year of l972-73, saw several changes and some positive growth the following year. The budget increased from $16,000 to $25,000. Scholarships were approved by the AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) and the UF program awarded 10. Seven scholarships were based on full waiver of tuition at $1050 , and three athletes received tuition money of lesser amounts. Two scholarships were allocated to each of the five sports-gymnastics, swimming, tennis, golf and track. The initial three women to receive scholarships were current athletes: Suzanne Jackson in golf, Gene Shapiro in tennis and Kristi Stovall in track. Three newcomers were the next scholarship recipients, Anita Scandurra in track, Laura Pasternk in swimming and Candy Senn in tennis. There were several coaching changes following that first season of competition. Catie Ball, a UF student and Olympic gold medal winner, graduated and resigned her position to marry Gator football center Tom Condon. Linda Bittner, also a UF student, resigned as gymnastics coach to pursue her doctorate. She would stay on as a part-time assistant in the Gator sports information department, concentrating on helping generate publicity for the women's program. Track coach Janice Thompson also resigned, and was replaced by Kate Paulos. Sandy Phillips, a nationally known gymnast and coach, joined the faculty in physical education and took over as gymnastics coach. Phillips' final competition came as a member of the United States team in the World University Games in Moscow in the summer of l973.. She was captain of the l970-71 FSU gymnastics team and was an assistant coach while competing there her senior year. |
| Suzanne Jackson was the first scholarship athlete in women's golf for the Gators, and graduated in l974 with a BS in Journalism. She followed an exceptional career at UF by playing on the LPGA Tour, then became a tournament official with that organization. In October of l984 she was named Tournament Director of the LPGA. In April of l991 she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38, which eventually claimed her life. |
Sue Halfacre and Kathy Thomas, who were members of the first swimming team under Coach Ball, took over as the head coaches for that sport. They also competed for the Lady Gators that year. This duo shared the first swimming scholarship.
"We had certainly made some strides with the scholarship funding and increasing support on campus and in the community,"said Dr. Ruth Alexander, who coordinated the women's program.
Facilities and scheduling continued to be major concerns.
"One of our biggest problems is finding competition from other teams within the Southern region of the country, " said Dr. Alexander. "UF leads the women in the South in the development of athletic teams, but are far behind the North and Far West. We could find all the competition we desired in these areas, but we don't have the travel funding to accomplish that."
Finding practice time on campus was difficult.
"We would like to include in our program a variety of team sports including basketball, volleyball and softball, but having to share facilities with the men makes it very difficult," Dr. Alexander said. "Although the men's and women's programs work closely with each other to avoid problems, sometimes there just aren't enough facilities for all of us."
In those early days the swimming team practiced from 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. in the outdoor pool, which got quite nippy during many of the winter nights. Other women's teams often practiced later, and when the women's basketball team was formed in the spring of l974 it's practice sessions ran from 9:15 p.m.- 11:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Least affected in these areas were the sports of golf and tennis. Both teams had good practice facilities and all other state schools fielded teams in these sports, so travel was not a problem. Gymnastics didn't have to compete with a men's team for practice space and times, but had to schedule practices around Florida Gym physical education classes and the campus intramural program.
The women's track team used the track at the same time as the men. Coach Paulos thought this was an advantage.
"When our athletes need some special help it is usually the men's track coaches, who provide that for them," she said. " Coach Jimmy Carnes (men's head coach) has been more than cooperative."
Every Lady Gator team finished with a winning record in the l973-1974 season. The golf team finished fifth in the NCAA tournament, the swimming team was eighth and the tennis team was 10th. All the teams ahead of them in every sport were from established programs, and the Florida women were the highest ranked of any conference school.
Things were moving along in the right direction. Not as fast as Dr. Alexander might have liked, but there was good progress.
Norm Carlson recently retired from the University Athletic Association after 40 years of service. Carlson serves as historian for Gator athletics and will contribute a regular column to gatorzone.com.
