A March 5, 1925, article in the Alton Evening Telegraph announced that a 1924 graduate of Alton High School, Alonzella Banta, 700 Alby Street, played basketball at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. “Men alone are not the only ones to take advantage of the great indoor game of basketball, which is at its height at the University of Illinois just now, for practically every woman registered in the university is a member of some basketball team, unless taking physical training work of another nature which has been prescribed by the department of physical welfare.” Other “physical training” sports the women could participate in included volleyball, swimming, track, bowling, tennis, baseball, and apparatus (gymnastics).
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The University of Illinois first admitted female students in 1870, but it took more than a century for gender equality to be standard in sports at the University. To quote the Women’s Athletics page of the 1909 edition of The Illio yearbook, "Better results are obtained in women's athletics every year, and it is hoped that, at some near future time, the girls will equal the boys in athletics."
While the 1925 men’s varsity basketball team played University of Iowa, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, women’s basketball players (and other female athletes) at the University of Illinois could only participate at the class or intramural level (all within the University of Illinois itself). The senior class had one first team and one second team, the juniors one first team and two second teams, the sophomores one first team and two second teams, and the freshman one first team and three second teams. The tournament was arranged so that the first teams would all play each other and the second teams would play in two divisions. According to a Dec. 5, 1925, article in The Daily Illini, to be eligible to play in the tournament at the end of the season, participants had to “be present at three fourths of the practices, have a C average, and keep training rules throughout the season. Training rules are: to be in bed by 10:30 o’clock on week nights, to eat nothing between meals except fruit, take a shower after every practice, and drink no more than one cup of coffee or tea each day.”
The popular Shi-Ai (women’s) basketball competition featured intramural games where sororities and dorms played each other for the championship. The 1926 Illio Yearbook lists Banta as a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, so she likely played basketball for her sorority team.
Banta is not listed as part of the (1924) women’s basketball team at Alton High School, but the differences between 1920s high school men’s and women’s athletics are very similar to that of 1920s college athletics. In 1925, the Alton High School men’s basketball team played against Wood River, Edwardsville, Belleville, Collinsville, and other area schools. Their season lasted from the beginning of December until the end of February. The women got to play on one of four Alton High School intramural teams: The Seniors, Live Wires, Nicks, or Peter Pans, in a two-day tournament in the Alton High School gym.
Less funding for and less focus on women’s sports were not unique to the University of Illinois or to Alton High School. Until the United States Congress passed the Title IX Amendment in the summer of 1972, female athletes across the country did not get the equal footing they deserved, and we still have work to do before there is true gender equality in sports. That said, just this week the Alton High School Girls Varsity Basketball Team won the Class 4A Super-Sectional and are on their way to the state tournament. Alton, ranked No. 5 in the final Class 4A state poll, will play No. 1 Chicago Kenwood in the state semifinal at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena in Normal, Illinois. We’ve come a long way since 1925!
This article is dedicated to both of my grandmothers, who played high school basketball before Title IX. And to the Alton High School Girls Varsity Basketball Team - you make Alton so proud! The female athletes of 100 years ago who paved the way would be very impressed.
Sources
“Alton Girl in U. of I. Basket Ball.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), March 5, 1925.
Alton High School (Alton, Ill). 1924. “The Tatler.”https://archive.org/details/AltonHS_Tatler_1924/
Alton High School (Alton, Ill). 1925. “The Tatler.”https://archive.org/details/AltonHS_Tatler_1925/
“Kappa Alpha Theta to Play McKinley For Championship.” The Daily Illini (Champaign, IL), April 3, 2027.
“Miss Brooks Will Talk at Basketball Meeting.” The Daily Illini (Champaign, IL), December 2, 2026.
Pearson, Mike. “The Origins of University of Illinois Women’s Athletics.” FightingIllini.com. March 10, 2022.https://fightingillini.com/news/2022/3/9/the-origins-of-university-of-illinois-womens-athletics
University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign Campus). 1909. “The Illio.”https://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/OCA/Books2012-12/illio/illio1909univ/
University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign Campus). 1925. “The Illio.”https://archive.org/details/illio192531univ/
University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign Campus). 1926. “The Illio.”https://archive.org/details/illio192632univ/
“Women Hear Talk on Sportsmanship.” The Daily Illini (Champaign, IL), December 5, 1925.
“History of Women’s Sports. WOMEN’S SPORTS TIMELINE: Illinois' Pre-Title IX Era History.” FightingIllini.com. February 10, 2022.https://fightingillini.com/sports/2022/2/10/history-of-womens-sports.aspx
More like this:
