MENOMONIE (September 29, 2020) - While varsity athletic sports did not appear on the UW-Stout landscape until the late 1960s and early 1970s, sports, athletics and physical education for women have played a part in Stout's more than 125 year history. This story is one of a series of stories and spotlights over the upcoming year as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) marks 50 years of sponsoring women's sports championships.
1906 Girls Basketball
According to Jerry Poling's 2016 history of Stout, "An Idea Comes of Age - UW-Stout", women "were encouraged just as the men to physically active as far back as the early 1900s, owing to (founder) James Huff Stout's vision to educate boys and girls mentally and physically."
Senator Stout personally funded the School of Physical Culture that opened in 1901 and physical education courses were built into the an education at Stout Institute. The building featured a swimming pool, gymnasium and an elevated running track. Women taking kindergarten teacher training programs took two classes a week in phy ed.
"The characteristic features of the instruction given in this school are that the girls receive the same attention as the boys and that training of both begins when they are young," said NJ MacArthur, the Stout Institute director of physical education, in 1903.
A photograph of a women's basketball team from 1906 appears in Dwight Agnew's book on Stout history, "Interpreting the Dream: A Stout History". Scattered throughout The Tower, Stout's yearbook until 1989, and The Stoutonia, Stout's student newspaper since 1915, are photographs and articles about women being called to participate or participating in some sort of athletic endeavor.
1948 Women's Athletic Association
The 1938 Tower displays a page of women's sports including field hockey, bowling, archery and basketball under the title of Intra-Murals. The 1948 Tower talks about the Women's Athletic Association at Stout Institute as it's chief aim promotion of active participation of it's women students in recreational activities. Vice-president of the 1948 organization, Jean Dillman, is shown in the group photo wearing a chenille S on her sweater. The WAA name was changed to the Women's Recreation Association in the mid-1950s and stayed that way into the 1970s.
In 1958, the Wisconsin Athletic and Recreation Federation of College Women (WARFCW) was formed for the purpose of coordinating athletic activity among Wisconsin institutions of higher education. This organization followed the national model (ARFCW) in which governance was primarily the responsibility of student leaders. The WARFCW included representatives from: Eau Claire State College, La Crosse State College, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Oshkosh State College, Platteville State College, Ripon College, River Falls State College and University of Wisconsin-Madison. The WARFCW held sports days in archery, badminton, basketball, golf, gymnastics, tennis and volleyball.
While Stout is not listed as being a part of the original group of schools in 1958, the WRA continued to participate with other colleges throughout the state. The Blue Devil gymnastics team is the first team considered as a varsity program, getting their start in 1967 when physical education instructor Kay Carter began a team.
With the WRA still in full swing, varsity programs for women's sports began. Women's volleyball began in 1968 and women's basketball in 1971. But the women's programs did not gain much attention. There are no women's varsity teams pictured in the Tower until the 1971-72 edition when gymnastics, swimming, basketball, volleyball and track and field team photos appeared.
Carol Govin spots Barb Anderson
on the uneven bars in this 1970 photo
Karen Mueser joined the gymnastics program in 1967 when Kay Carter, a physical education instructor, mentioned in her class that she was planning to start a gymnastics team.
"I had some gymnastics training growing up so when Kay asked if I wanted to be on it, I said yes," Mueser said in a 2016 story posted on the Blue Devil website. Mueser, who was the first four-year gymnast at Stout, competed from 1967-70. During Mueser's tenure on the team, the Blue Devils won the 1969 women's gymnastics state championship.
"We had to beat the favorite which was La Crosse," Mueser said. "It was a thrill for our group, since nobody in the athletic department even thought we were a real team yet. I don't remember everything about the meet, but it all went right for us."
The gymnastics meet was held at three different levels - beginning, low intermediate and high intermediate. Stout captured the beginning level and the low intermediate division. Even though Stout had no high intermediate entries, the team accumulated enough team points to win the overall crown.
Joining Mueser on that 1969 championship team included: Carol Govin, Barb Anderson, Pat Demerath, Gail Benes, Eve Larsen, Terry Jackson, Marlene Wieman and Liz Lloyd.
Mueser, originally from the Chicago area, went on to teach home economics for nine years, then joined Sears for 24 years, retiring in 2003. Mueser was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001 and passed away in 2017.
