#FromtheArchives: College softball's forgotten first dynasty
#FromtheArchives: College softball's forgotten first dynasty
Before the Sooners, before the NCAA, before even the AIAW, there were the Patriettes.
Hi, friends! I thought we’d take a breather from The Discourse and look back at some softball history! How does that sound?
First, a few remindersL
Earlier this week, we announced the first Power Plays sponsorship, with the Working Family Party’s “Basketball House,” which hosts events that “seek to build power for the multiracial working class by creating community in our fandoms and making collective civic engagement convenient, accessible, and fun.”
On Sunday, they are hosting WNBA watch parties in Philly and Phoenix, and I’m extremely jealous of everyone who is able to attend! Click here for more info/to RSVP.
Also, on Twitter last week I teased that I was going to re-publish my newsletter about Billie Jean King founding a pro women’s softball league in the 1970s. Well, I’m doing the next best thing: I’ve unlocked it from the archives, so you can read it even if you’re not a paying subscriber to Power Plays.
I’ve gotta say, though, the full Power Plays archive is, in my humble opinion, the best reason to become a paid subscriber — every newsletter, even the ones that are initially free, go behind the paywall after eight months. I hope you will consider becoming a paid subscriber if you can!
Finally, as we learn about women’s sports history, I wanted to remind everyone that I have a shop with Learn Women’s Sports History merch!! All merch sales go towards funding reporting trips for Power Plays.
Okay, let’s do this!
Remembering the Patriettes
On Thursday, the Oklahoma Sooners won the Women’s College World Series for the fourth straight time. They’ve now made the WCWS in 12 of the last 13 tournaments, reached the championship series the last five tournaments, and won six of the last eight titles. There are seniors on the team who will never know what it’s like to end the season with a loss. That’s absurd.
But the Sooners are not the first dynasty in women’s collegiate softball. Neither was Arizona in the ‘90s or UCLA in the ‘80s. That title belongs to John F. Kennedy College, who won the first three WCWS from 1969-1971, when the WCWS was put on by the Division of Girls and Women's Sports (DGWS), which went on to become the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).
In fact, not only did JFK College win the first three WCWS, it was instrumental in getting the WCWS to exist in the first place!
Here’s an article from the Fremont Tribune on February 18, 1969:
Now, I know that is probably a little hard to read, so I’ve pulled out the most significant part, emphasis mine: