Title IX was part of the Educational Amendments of 1972 signed into law on June 23 of that year (https://www.justice.gov/crt/overview-title-ix-education-amendments-1972-20-usc-1681-et-seq). It mandated that girls' athletics programs be offered in the public school system. Before then, there were some girls athletic competitions, but they were not endorsed and sanctioned by most high school athletic associations. Some states, such as Iowa, Texas, and Oklahoma, were known for their 6 on 6 girls basketball teams. These were sanctioned, but were played under different rules than what the boys had. After Title IX was implemented, these states (Texas in 1978, Iowa in 1993, and Oklahoma in 1995) phased out the 6 on 6 play and replaced it with regular 5 on 5 competition.
Most people, though, have probably forgotten that girls played basketball in South Dakota in the 1920's. My mother was in high school then, and in her yearbook, one of her teammates said she was the best dribbler on the team. Wish that I would have inherited that skill. Evidently, it was decided that such rigorous activity was deemed injurious to their health, so the those programs were dropped. Below is a typical picture from that era.
In South Dakota, then, there were a few athletic competitions offered for girls until the passage of Title IX.. However, they were not sponsored nor sanctioned by the South Dakota High School Athletic Association. These unsanctioned events (to the best of my limited knowledge) were gymnastics and track and field. There were just a handful of schools that participated. In 1968, for example, the state gymnastics meet was held at SDSU. According the Brookings Register of Jan 31, 1968, schools that would be participating were Britton, Brookings, Milbank, Rapid City, Sioux Falls Lincoln and Washington, and possibly Aberdeen, Huron, Lead, Lemmon, and Madison. In 1969, participating schools at "the fourth annual South D.G.W.S. High School Girls' Invitation Gymnastics Championship at South Dakota State University" were Britton, Brookings, Huron, Lead, Pierre, Sioux Falls Lincoln and Washington, and Rapid City. It appears that there were three divisions: Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Jackie Ramey of Brookings placed second in the Intermediate Division on Vaulting.
In 1969, a girls state track and field meet was held in Yankton. Tyndall placed first, while the Brookings team of Jean Holzkamp, Ruth Shubeck, and Jackie Ramey captured runner-up honors.
It is easily noticed that Jackie Ramey was quite talented. Many of us may not have realized just how gifted she was, as there were not many opportunities for girls to display their athletic skills in those days in comparison to today.
When Brookings High School started its athletic hall of fame about 15 years ago, it appeared that any candidates for the girls portion of the hall would be those girls who competed after Title IX was implemented, as there were really no records to be found of those unsanctioned competitions before 1972. That omission, however, was rectified this past August, when Jackie was one of the former athletes inducted into this year's hall of fame. Her track and field marks would compare favorably with those of today. With the better facilities and training methods that we have today, she may have achieved performances that would still be some of the best ever in Brookings High School.
Other inductees were Steve Holwerda, class of 1981; Bill Iverson, class of 1962; the state championship basketball team of 1962; and Dellas Cole, long-time sportscaster for KBRK. Steve lettered in four different varsity sports: tennis, cross-country, basketball, and track and field. Bill lettered in football, basketball, and golf. Also attending from that 1962 team were Gary Schutjer and Henry Nelson. Gary was a first team all-state pick, while Henry was honorable mention. All three of them were starters and played key roles for the team. Other members of that team were Ron Otterness, Jim Nelson, Reed Sanderson, Bill Gamble, Don Dahl, John Murphy, Doug Lakman, Dave Brust, and Tim O'Connor.
Congratulations to all of this year's inductees.
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