Missouri Southern celebrates 50 years of women's athletics

(From Missouri Southern State University)

Missouri Southern will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of women’s athletics at the university with a year-long series of events, stories, and the return of many storied Lion athletes who have participated at MSSU during the past five decades.

All former female athletes are being invited back to campus for a series of reunions and events planned throughout the academic year.

“It’s an incredible milestone and we are excited for all the plans that have been made to celebrate these amazing student athletes, who literally number in the thousands,” said Rob Mallory, Missouri Southern’s Director of Athletics. “It’s a milestone that simply cannot be contained with one event and deserves an entire year dedicated to the trailblazers and the trendsetters who have worked to create opportunities for women yesterday, today, and into the indefinite future.”

Women’s athletics began in 1974 after a group of female students approached Sallie Beard, a member of Missouri Southern’s faculty at the time, and asked to start a women’s basketball team. Known for her tenacity and her passion to help students succeed, Beard built partnerships on the campus and in the community to make that happen. She would ultimately coach the team and go on to become the university’s director of athletics, a role she had for 34 years until she retired.

Following basketball in the fall of 1974, the university developed women’s tennis and softball teams the next semester – all three teams were coached by Beard in that first year. The budget for the three sports was $2,000 annually. Today, Missouri Southern has eight women’s athletics teams with more than 100 student athletes participating in the university’s NCAA Division II program that now has a multi-million-dollar budget.

Other growth and championships followed. In 1992, Missouri Southern won its first national championship in softball, and in 1993 the first of six women’s national championships in track and field was obtained.

Beard is still a familiar face in the crowd at many athletic events at the university and remembers all the student athletes who have contributed to the program’s successes. This year will be dedicated to them, she said.

“This celebration isn’t about one woman or one team, but many women and many teams who have worked to build a successful women’s athletics program at Missouri Southern,” said Beard, who is serving on a committee with former coaches, athletes, and others at the university to plan this year’s events. “We are looking forward to welcoming back to campus the many, many women who have been a part of the program’s continued growth and successes.”

Specific events planned for this year are:The Homecoming parade on Oct. 5 through downtown Joplin, which will feature grand marshals consisting of Beard and any 1974-75 female student athletes. All former and current MSSU female athletes are also being invited back to Joplin to participate in the parade.

 
The Missouri Southern Athletics Hall of Fame induction brunch on Oct. 12, which will see the induction of the first basketball team into the school’s Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame brunch on Saturday morning will be open to the public.

The 50th Anniversary Alumni weekend Jan. 24 and 25, with a dinner including former female athletes and teams on Jan. 24 and a brunch on Jan. 25, along with a special recognition ceremony during halftime of the women’s basketball game on the 25th. All current student athletes will be included in the festivities.

Other sport-specific reunions and alumni games during in-season contests throughout the academic year.