footballgal
07-08-2008, 04:07 PM
Texas woman recalls her football days
July 8, 2008 - 11:20AM
The Associated Press
STINNETT, Texas - Frankie Groves is a trailblazer, even if she didn't really want to be. She just wanted to have fun.
"I'm not a women's libber, but all my life I could see that there were things that guys got to do that girls and women didn't get to do," said Groves, 77.
In 1947, Groves suited up at right tackle for Stinnett in a game against Groom and became the first girl to play in a high school football game in Texas. The repercussions of that one game would last more than 45 years.
"It was fun to hit people and fun to be hit," said Groves. "I was not someone who fought for the rights. Some things just didn't look right to me. If the boys could, why couldn't I?"
Groves grew up one of six children. She always had a rebellious streak. All her life, she'd played football with her brother and other boys.
"We didn't have parties like you all do," she said. "We would have the picnics and go down to the creeks and we'd build a bonfire.
"The boys would start playing football and the girls would sit under the trees and talk about their fingernails and their clothes. I thought, well, that sure wasn't much fun," Groves said.
After watching her play with the boys, Stinnett football coach Truman "Chief" Johnson had told her, "I wish I had you on the team."
The team needed the help. It hadn't won a game all season. So, she began bugging Johnson to let her play.
A junior in high school, Groves finally got her wish.
"Old coach, he had not won a game that year and he figured he had nothing to lose," she said. "So he just let me play."
Johnson knew what he was doing, and also knew the reaction wasn't going to be pretty. He decided to announce Groves' participation in a unique way. He called the newspaper and made an announcement without telling school officials first.
"If he'd taken it to the principal, the principal never would have let him do it, so he took it to the newspapers," Groves said. "We (girls) were expected to do certain things and not cross the line. They were having a lot more fun than I was having. There were two sides, the boys did this and the girls did this."
The superintendent was furious. Groves' father was the president of the school board so he "had a little leverage there," Frankie said.
"Dad thought it was the funniest thing in the world," she said.
Her teammates didn't take it quite as well.
"The boys on my team were real nasty to me about it," she said. "The boys were mad. They wouldn't even speak to me."
On Nov. 14, 1947, Groves suited up for the last game of the season.
One of the opposing team's players got off the school bus before the game wearing a dress.
More than 3,000 people and reporters from national media outlets attended the contest.
There were no bleachers. Spectators backed their trucks up to the edge of the field, outlined with wire, to watch the game.
Groves entered the game in the second half. She got in five plays in the third quarter and three more in the fourth.
"What we had was just little helmets," she said, "and there was no webbing on the inside and the shoulder pads were just like a little turtle."
She remembers getting knocked down only once.
"I did make tackles," she said. "If you can get right in there, right below the knees, get right in there and hit them. It worked for me."
Despite her best efforts, Stinnett lost the game, 14-6.
But her effort caused quite a furor off the field.
Her father resigned from the school board as a result of the controversy. Johnson was fired after the school year.
Her mother was so embarrassed she wouldn't go out, even to get groceries, for a year.
"Till the day she died, she didn't get over the embarrassment," Groves said.
Groves received fan mail from all over the country and appeared on the radio show "We the People" with Johnson.
Three weeks after the game, the University Interscholastic League passed a rule banning girls from playing football. That rule would stand until 1993.
Bill Farney, executive director for the UIL, said he thought the rule was meant to protect girls.
"In those days, there were a lot of ideas about protecting girls," Farney said. "I don't think it was saying that they were inferior by any means, just to protect them from the injuries.
"But society changes and times change, and we'll probably see some more changes if we live long enough."
Farney said changing the rule was driven by girls requesting to play football and baseball.
"At the advice of legal counsel and superintendents, we did put a rule in called a non-discrimination clause in our constitution, which allowed girls to try out for, and if selected, play football," he said. "We didn't want to say you had to let girls play, unless they tried out and made the team."
Groves also played basketball and volleyball, but was benched after the infamous football game.
"The coach for the girls basketball team was so mad at me for playing on the boys team, he would let me suit up, but he wouldn't let me play," Groves said. "You don't know the trouble it caused in this town. They were just cut in two. I can't tell you cause you just can't imagine it."
Groves went on to become a mortgage loan officer and has lived all over the country. She has four children and now has four grandchildren.
She remembers once when her son was in school and tried out for the football team.
"The coach asked him if he'd ever played football or his daddy ever played football," she said. "And he said, ‘No, but my mama did."‘
Groves moved back to Stinnett 15 years ago.
"This is home," she said. "That's where my heart wanted to be."
Now, Groves looks back on her brush with fame with no regrets.
"There's many a time I've gotten up with cleat marks on my face," she said. "If you're going to play with the big boys, you don't cry."
http://www.rgvsports.com/articles/groves_2370___article.html/game_football.html
July 8, 2008 - 11:20AM
The Associated Press
STINNETT, Texas - Frankie Groves is a trailblazer, even if she didn't really want to be. She just wanted to have fun.
"I'm not a women's libber, but all my life I could see that there were things that guys got to do that girls and women didn't get to do," said Groves, 77.
In 1947, Groves suited up at right tackle for Stinnett in a game against Groom and became the first girl to play in a high school football game in Texas. The repercussions of that one game would last more than 45 years.
"It was fun to hit people and fun to be hit," said Groves. "I was not someone who fought for the rights. Some things just didn't look right to me. If the boys could, why couldn't I?"
Groves grew up one of six children. She always had a rebellious streak. All her life, she'd played football with her brother and other boys.
"We didn't have parties like you all do," she said. "We would have the picnics and go down to the creeks and we'd build a bonfire.
"The boys would start playing football and the girls would sit under the trees and talk about their fingernails and their clothes. I thought, well, that sure wasn't much fun," Groves said.
After watching her play with the boys, Stinnett football coach Truman "Chief" Johnson had told her, "I wish I had you on the team."
The team needed the help. It hadn't won a game all season. So, she began bugging Johnson to let her play.
A junior in high school, Groves finally got her wish.
"Old coach, he had not won a game that year and he figured he had nothing to lose," she said. "So he just let me play."
Johnson knew what he was doing, and also knew the reaction wasn't going to be pretty. He decided to announce Groves' participation in a unique way. He called the newspaper and made an announcement without telling school officials first.
"If he'd taken it to the principal, the principal never would have let him do it, so he took it to the newspapers," Groves said. "We (girls) were expected to do certain things and not cross the line. They were having a lot more fun than I was having. There were two sides, the boys did this and the girls did this."
The superintendent was furious. Groves' father was the president of the school board so he "had a little leverage there," Frankie said.
"Dad thought it was the funniest thing in the world," she said.
Her teammates didn't take it quite as well.
"The boys on my team were real nasty to me about it," she said. "The boys were mad. They wouldn't even speak to me."
On Nov. 14, 1947, Groves suited up for the last game of the season.
One of the opposing team's players got off the school bus before the game wearing a dress.
More than 3,000 people and reporters from national media outlets attended the contest.
There were no bleachers. Spectators backed their trucks up to the edge of the field, outlined with wire, to watch the game.
Groves entered the game in the second half. She got in five plays in the third quarter and three more in the fourth.
"What we had was just little helmets," she said, "and there was no webbing on the inside and the shoulder pads were just like a little turtle."
She remembers getting knocked down only once.
"I did make tackles," she said. "If you can get right in there, right below the knees, get right in there and hit them. It worked for me."
Despite her best efforts, Stinnett lost the game, 14-6.
But her effort caused quite a furor off the field.
Her father resigned from the school board as a result of the controversy. Johnson was fired after the school year.
Her mother was so embarrassed she wouldn't go out, even to get groceries, for a year.
"Till the day she died, she didn't get over the embarrassment," Groves said.
Groves received fan mail from all over the country and appeared on the radio show "We the People" with Johnson.
Three weeks after the game, the University Interscholastic League passed a rule banning girls from playing football. That rule would stand until 1993.
Bill Farney, executive director for the UIL, said he thought the rule was meant to protect girls.
"In those days, there were a lot of ideas about protecting girls," Farney said. "I don't think it was saying that they were inferior by any means, just to protect them from the injuries.
"But society changes and times change, and we'll probably see some more changes if we live long enough."
Farney said changing the rule was driven by girls requesting to play football and baseball.
"At the advice of legal counsel and superintendents, we did put a rule in called a non-discrimination clause in our constitution, which allowed girls to try out for, and if selected, play football," he said. "We didn't want to say you had to let girls play, unless they tried out and made the team."
Groves also played basketball and volleyball, but was benched after the infamous football game.
"The coach for the girls basketball team was so mad at me for playing on the boys team, he would let me suit up, but he wouldn't let me play," Groves said. "You don't know the trouble it caused in this town. They were just cut in two. I can't tell you cause you just can't imagine it."
Groves went on to become a mortgage loan officer and has lived all over the country. She has four children and now has four grandchildren.
She remembers once when her son was in school and tried out for the football team.
"The coach asked him if he'd ever played football or his daddy ever played football," she said. "And he said, ‘No, but my mama did."‘
Groves moved back to Stinnett 15 years ago.
"This is home," she said. "That's where my heart wanted to be."
Now, Groves looks back on her brush with fame with no regrets.
"There's many a time I've gotten up with cleat marks on my face," she said. "If you're going to play with the big boys, you don't cry."
http://www.rgvsports.com/articles/groves_2370___article.html/game_football.html