M-Women Newsletter: Spring - Summer 2005 News and Notes
M-Women™ Annual Meeting – Saturday, June 18, 10 am – 1 pm
UM Golf Course Club House - 500 East Stadium (at Main Street) - Ann Arbor MI 48104
Send in your bids and reserve your brunch for the June 18th M-Women Annual Meeting, Silent Auction and T-Shirt Raffle. Bids and reservations are due by noon on Friday June 17th (email, Fax, phone or mail options). – see attached bid sheet for details. Dine with the coaches or become honorary coach for the day! Get autographed sports equipment! Be sure to bid! Additional silent auction items will be available on Saturday, June 18th, at the Annual Meeting and will be listed in advance on our website www.m-women.org.
Notes from the President:
Update your membership information for the 2005-2006 Membership Directory. We plan to update, print and distribute the directory in early July. Also, please update your email address so that we can reduce printing costs. The money we save on printing and mailing newsletters and other communications will be redirected to UM women’s sports, a goal we can all support.
Make an additional donation to M-Women on the enclosed card. Your generous donations have allowed us to make significant contributions to UM women’s sports like this year’s $20,000 gift to the UM Women’s basketball program for home and away radio broadcasts, pre- and post-game shows, cable and print advertising and seat covers for season ticket holders. Over the next two months, we will be making decisions on funding proposals for next year. The time is right – contribute now.
Take an active role in shaping M-Women and directing its contributions. Join a committee. Attend Board meetings. Contact us to share your views. Send us news about what you and your former teammates are doing now. We’ll print it in upcoming newsletters in the M-Women in Action section.
Condolences to M-Women Life Member Clare Canham-Eaton, to Margaret (“Peggy”) Canham and the entire Canham family on the death of Donald Burrell Canham, 87, legendary UM Athletic Department Director (1968 -1988). Although not many people knew it, Don Canham was an M-Women Life Member and a frequent contributor to our fund-raising events. His memorial service at Crisler Arena on Saturday May 7th was attended by over 600 people, including many current and former M-Women Board members. The M-Women Annual Meeting, originally scheduled for that same date and time, was moved to June 18th to allow our speakers, coaches, members and guests to attend the memorial service.
M-Women in Action – Recent Activities of the Board and Membership
M-Women Board Gets An Assist
UM Women’s Basketball Head Coach Cheryl Burnett invited M-Women Board Members and the Victory Hoops Board to help with preparations for the UM – MSU Alumni Game January 2nd and to meet and greet former and current athletes and families at the reception following the game. Sheryl Szady tracked down former varsity players from the early days through today, coordinated tickets and welcomed them to Crisler Arena.
In the alumni game, there was a high quotient of M-Women players from the very first Wolverine teams of Vic Katch and Carmel Borders (73-77). Roberta Zald, Deb Vander and Karen McKeachie displayed their sharp shooting. Shellee Almquist and Sheryl Szady cheered from the bench. Carolyn Siebers got her team shirt. Stephanie Buttrey photographed the antics on the floor. Younger M-Women like Life Member Leslie Spicer and Bridgette Venturi Veenema (now a high school athletic director) insured the victory, giving the Blue Alums a perfect record against the Green and White. Former M-Women board members in the crowd like Pat Bubel were rabidly cheering for the Maize and Blue.
Sylvia Lang worked with Coaches Lynnette Robinson and Karen Rapier to prepare for the post-game reception. They decorated the Golf Club House to a tee, with maize and blue balloons anchoring artful stacks of players’ sneakers on the tables. Cottage Inn catered. Gordon Larsen, Chuck Raab, Alicia Green, Drew and Tama Abel, Connie Jones and Helen Hill helped meet and greet alums and current players and parents. Former player Ann Lemire was at the game and reception on crutches following surgery. Two brave MSU alums joined the party and had a great time.
M-Women Recognized at UM – Minnesota Game for $20,000 Gift to UM Women’s Basketball
The UM Women’s Basketball program and the UM Athletic Department recognized M-Women for its $20,000 gift during the first quarter of the February 6th UM – Minnesota women’s basketball game. Members were asked to rise for an ovation from the crowd. This was National Girls and Women in Sports Day and the half-time ceremonies were excellent (see article by Megan McCallister in this newsletter). The turnout for the game was good, too.
About 30 M-Women and their families attended a reception before the game at The UM Golf Club House and received complimentary tickets to the game. A raffle of T-shirts and a silent auction with signed softball and basketball among other treasures raised money for M-Women to contribute to Michigan Womens’ Athletics. Therese Chouinard (field hockey) and her family enjoyed the challenge of making the winning the bid for the autographed softball.
Shellee Almquist and Lauren Hall brought their teens to the reception and game. Lauren is the new owner of Say Cheese, a premier cheese cake factory and catering business for Ann Arbor and surrounding towns. Cathy Sharp Gardner (track) brought her children to cheer on the team. Julie Byrnes (volleyball) drove over from Niles with a friend for the occasion. Long-time Board members Maggie Stevens (swimming) and Mary Ramirez (field hockey) brought their girls and boys, too. Chuck Raab and Board member Gordon Larsen balanced their time at the reception with their official commitments at the game. Chuck is the fiercest of Wolverine fans and sits floorside with his signs, cheering team and fans to greater glory. Gordon masterminded the collection of items for the raffle and Silent Auction. A good time was had by all!
Thanks to UM Women’s Basketball Head Coach Cheryl Burnett for making Assistant Coach Lynette Robinson available as Liaison to the M-Women Board. Coach Robinson has helped the Board understand the WBB program and the impact the $20,000 grant has made. She has kept us in the loop with great color commentary and has shown us additional non-monetary options for helping out.
Update on $20,000 Grant to UM Women’s Basketball
The $20,000 grant bought seat covers for season ticket holders; pre- and post-game coach shows from Crisler arena; radio broadcasts for all home and away games; and advertising in print media and on cable TV. You could see the M-Women logo prominently featured on the season ticket holder seat covers, in the ads and on the local cable channel as players like Tabitha Pool talked about how great it is to be a Michigan Wolverine. Better still, this money brought needed visibility to the basketball team. It helped to increase the crowds and to build needed community support and listener continuity through the predictable and accessible radio broadcasts.
This was money well spent. Thanks to our many loyal contributors for helping to make this grant possible. Keep the donations coming so that we can continue this good work on your behalf.
Legendary Field Hockey Coach Marcia Pankratz,who made UM a national powerhouse and took them to the NCAA Championship, was roasted at a farewell reception attended by friends, current and former field hockey players and hosted by Bill Martin. Glenn Williams, long-time field hockey and ice hockey announcer, served as emcee. Recent stars Kelli and Kristi Gannon were there. Many M-Women Board members (current and past) were among the roasters, including field hockey players Sylvia Lang, Sheryl Szady, Bree Arvai, Roberta Zald and Shellee Almquist. Gifts and fond memories were exchanged, including such rare treats as Marcia calling the refs (and her players) Ray Charles and Stevie Wonders. She will be missed!
Congratulations to new Head Coach Nancy Cox and to her Assistant Coach Tracey Fuchs, the Captain of the US National Team who is returning to Michigan.
UM Women’s Basketball and Field Hockey Players Help M-Women at the Ozone Bowl
Bree Ann McPhilamy, Becky Flippin, Molly Maloney and Jillianne Whitfield volunteered to bowl with M-Women Board members Connie Jones and Helen Hill in The Ozone Bowl, a charity event for Ozone House, an Ann Arbor-based program for troubled and run-away teens. The athletes were a big hit with the crowd, especially with little girls aspiring to be athletes, and helped to raise money for a great cause.
Talks About Town
M-Women member and contributor Jean Loup invited M-Women President Helen Hill to address her Ann Arbor Chapter of the P.E.O. Sorority at an April meeting in Ann Arbor on Changes in Women’s Athletics. Hill provided some examples drawn from early journals and newspaper articles of how U.S. women first organized to play sports and how they were treated in the press. She used data from the Women’s Sports Foundation’s website (www.womenssportsfoundation.org) to provide a brief statistical summary of changes in women’s athletics since June 23, 1972 when Title IX of the Education Amendments was enabled. Hill ended the talk with some examples on how funding requests from the UM women’s teams to M-Women have changed – from requests for team posters to electronic scoreboards to regional broadcast media advertising and coverage.
Townsend Trot
Race Coordinator and M-Women Board Member Bree Arvai has had a very busy spring organizing the 2nd Annual Townsend Trot, a 5K competitive race and 2-mile fun run/walk held in memory of Bree’s friend and colleague, Rachael Townsend, who collapsed after crossing the finish line of the 2003 Chicago Marathon and died at age 29 due to a heart abnormality.
Born in British Columbia, Rachel Townsend became a UM field hockey star. She married Brian Townsend, a former UM football player, who is now an assistant basketball coach at OSU. At Saline High School, Rachel Townsend was a teacher; a coach of soccer (taking her team to 7 consecutive league championships); and a much-honored cross-country coach. Rachel was also the Sports and Athletics Leader of the Year.
The purpose of the Townsend Trot is to raise funds for two scholarships: one for a female Saline High School student and one for a female UM student. These scholarships are lasting tributes to Rachel Townsend. This year’s successful race was held May 14th 2005 at Heritage Elementary School, 290 Woodland Drive, Saline MI. Congratulations, Bree!
Hosting the Board - The M-Women Board wishes to thank Board Member and local Ann Arbor attorney Connie Jones for making her Kerrytown-area law offices available for M-Women Board meetings during this past year. [Note: M-Women Board meetings are held monthly and are open to all members and to the public.]
Silent Auction / Raffle - Thanks to all the UM women’s sports coaches for donating so generously to the M-Women Silent Auction and T-Shirt Raffle. Special thanks to M-Women Board Member Gordon Larsen for coordinating the raffle, coming up with great ideas and collecting the goods!
M-Women Northern Outpost - Thanks to Board Member Deb Torres for representing us so well from St. Paul, Minnesota. Deb attends every UM game in her area, welcomes UM coaches and teams to the north and cheers ‘til she’s Maize and Blue. Deb was in town on May 7th and will be back for the rescheduled Annual Meeting on June 18th.
Report on National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) at UM
Many M-Women members joined in the UM Athletic Department’s inaugural National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) event at the UM Women’s Basketball game on Sunday, February 6, 2005, against the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. Despite a valiant effort, the Maize and Blue could not keep pace with last year’s Final Four participant.
The NGWSD celebration welcomed one of the largest UMWB crowds of the season, filled with Girl Scouts, former Michigan athletes, the co-Big Ten Champion Field Hockey team, and our loyal Women’s Basketball fans. M-Women members enjoyed a pre-game gathering at the Michigan Golf Course Clubhouse before heading over to the game. M-Women also received time-out recognition for the generous $20,000 donation to the 2004-05 marketing efforts of Michigan Women’s Basketball.
In honor of NGWSD, "Leaders and Best" awards were presented by the Girl Scouts of the Huron Valley Council to two local girls and two local women who have made contributions to sports and impacted the community in Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, Oakland or Wayne counties. The award ceremony took place during halftime, with Francie Goodridge welcoming each recipient.
2005 Leaders and Best Award Winners:
Lili Wolford, 13, of Ann Arbor, Girl Scout and eighth grade student at Clague Middle School. Lili wrestles on the all-boys school wrestling team and took third place in city finals last year despite a broken nose. Her accomplishments are extraordinary considering Lili faces the daily challenge of living with both scoliosis and cerebral palsy. Lili continues to challenge the gender barrier by recruiting other girls to try out for the wrestling team.
Lisa Erickson, 17, of Saline, Girl Scout and junior at Saline High School. Lisa has varsity letters in both cross-country and soccer. In addition to her High School soccer team (District Champions in 2003), Lisa also competes with the Saline Impact (perfect season Fall 2004). Lisa also makes time to volunteer with Saline’s U-11 community soccer league where she mentors young girls developing their skills. She created and managed a co-ed recreation soccer team that provides opportunities for girls and boys not involved in other organized sports to exercise, learn basic skills, and develop teamwork. When playing on a soccer team with a deaf student, Lisa learned basic sign language so she could communicate with her teammate and help others on the team overcome their awkwardness with a differently-abled teammate.