From six-on-six to full court press A century of Iowa girls' basketball

Eighteen months after basketball was introduced in Massachusetts, girls were playing the sport in Iowa, the only state to play continuously since 1893. Though hampered in the early years by outdoor courts, cramped gyms, three-zone play, and bulky uniforms, high school girls in Iowa developed a love affair with the game, typified by the celebration for the 1949 state champions from Wellsburg (pop. 700), in which a six-mile car convoy led to the town center. In many places, girls' competitive sports were considered ``unladylike,'' but in rural and small-town Iowa, girls were the stars. This book will appeal most to Midwesterners, but, despite the excessive player detail, it is also an important document of women's sport history. More than 100 photographs superbly portray the action and early uniforms.-- Kathy Ruffle, Coll. of New Caledonia Lib., Prince George, B.C. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.