Midwestern College women led Iowa 6-on-6 girls basketball.
It was in a small elementary school gym much like the kind you may remember from the movie Hoosiers where I first learned of 6-on-6 girls basketball. The Packerettes were spectacular with a game of precise athletic moves set to the rhythmic beat of a well dribbled ball. The crowds were large as the student body and towns people packed tightly into the small gym off Broadway to watch their spirited teamwork rule the court basket to basket. The wooden wainscot covered walls reverberated with every cheer. On street parking was tough, but the Packerettes play so good guys trekked through winter whipped snow many blocks from the Nilsen and D House to watch their games. Yeah, we rallied behind them as they earned sports equality long before Title IX. Geez, they were great.
In 1967 the Packerettes were invited to play in the National Championships in Gallup, New Mexico. The team placed second to that entered by Life Magazine as employees playing in their spare time. No matter how it occurred, no excuses need be made here, they took the ball to the basket playing one on one with the best in the nation and will forever be number one in our heart. As a footnote it’s justifiable to add the Life Magazine team was not unlike the Russian Hockey team of that era, a pro-team of all-star players.
Through the years we’ve all had photographs which never found a way into the album they were meant for. Hopefully yours made it through the packing and unlabelled boxes that comes with moving. Possibly they survived the hundred year flood and you know where they are. It makes no matter if some were folded over, are faded or worn, dig them out. Show them off to your friends and family, scan them to the best quality and contact us for email instructions. You were then and still are the best.