World War II Woman

Girls’ Sports

Since our eyes and ears are very much focused on the Olympics these days, I thought it would be a good time to think about girls’ sports during the early 1940’s.

First of all, I checked to see what was happening with the Olympics back then. Not much. The 1940 Olympics was scheduled to be held in Tokyo, but a number of countries planned to boycott because of Japan’s aggressive actions in Asia. Then Japan decided the Olympics would be a distraction to their military goals, so the games were to be moved to Helsinki, Finland. But with the outbreak of World War II, they were cancelled as were the 1944 Olympics.

Meanwhile, back in our country, girls’ interscholastic sports were somewhat hit or miss. We had both hockey and basketball in much of Pennsylvania. In our high school our coach also scheduled volleyball games with neighboring schools. I seem to have a recollection that many of my college friends from New Jersey did not have sports teams in their high schools, although I would be happy to be corrected if I am wrong. In my book, We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II, some of the women recount their sports activities.

On page 24, Shurley tells us she played both hockey and basketball, but because of the gasoline shortage, transportation to and from games was eliminated. Usually parents were called upon to drive, but on one occasion a parent wasn’t available, so Shurley at 16,with her father’s permission, drove some of the team members to the games.

Mernie, on pages 41-42, also mentions the gasoline restrictions and the elimination of buses for the girls’ teams. In her case, public transportation was available most of the time, thereby treating the other passengers to much singing and loud laughter, particularly if her team had won. As she recalls, the boys’ teams did have bus transportation.

On page 42, Jean tells of her disappointment when girls’ sports were eliminated during the war because of gasoline rationing. She had been selected for the basketball team.

And on page 37, Liz tells of her gymnastic interest. From the age of five until she was fourteen, she took lessons twice a week, hoping someday to be a gym teacher. But her father felt that gymnastics was unladylike and that she would develop unseemly muscles, so she had to give it up, much to her sorrow.

For more World War II stories, go to ww.peggeorge.com.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites