Basketball has been more than just a sport for many in Iowa; it’s a legacy that connects generations. The passion for the game is evident in the recent creation of a fund by University of Iowa alumna Sheryl Stoll, inspired by her mother’s experience in 6-on-6 basketball and coach Jan Jensen’s ties to the sport.
PHOTOS COURTESY JAN JENSEN & SHERYL STOLL
LEFT PHOTO: Coach Jan Jensen swaps basketball history stories with donor Sheryl Stoll; RIGHT PHOTO: Dorcas Anderson, Jensen’s grandmother and one of the pioneers of Iowa high school girls basketball.
Jan Jensen, who holds the position of Iowa’s P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women’s Basketball Coach, fondly recalls a trophy from her grandmother, Dorcas Anderson.
“I always looked at her most valuable player trophy and knew I wanted to get one too,” says Jensen. “She was an amazing basketball player, person, and grandmother.”
Click to enlarge
Anderson, a center for her 6-on-6 high school team in Audubon, Iowa, was a standout player, scoring 89 of the team’s 122 points to secure the 1921 state championship. Her prowess on the court earned her the nickname “Lottie.”
6-on-6 basketball, popular until 1993 in Iowa, involved a unique formation, as described by Janice Beran in her book, From Six-on-Six to Full Court Press. Teams in the 1920s and 1930s typically had two forwards, two guards, a jump center, and a side center, later evolving to three players each on offense and defense.
Jensen herself was a scoring sensation in high school, leading her team at Elk Horn-Kimballton with an average of 66 points per game her senior year, reflecting the excitement surrounding the sport in Iowa.
Click to enlarge
“It was just so much fun because of the community support—every night we played in front of packed houses,” Jensen reminisces. “Iowa has long shown its support for girls and women’s sports, and we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. My grandmother was one of the first to play the sport in Iowa, and she would certainly be proud that her passion and hard work has produced such an exciting game.”
Despite Anderson and Jensen’s successes, not all young women in Iowa enjoyed the same opportunities.
Heartbreak Off the Court
Maxine Hand Atkinson
Maxine Hand Atkinson spent her youth playing basketball on a farm near Collins, Iowa. “She was a competitor, and that’s why she loved basketball so much,” recalls her daughter Sheryl Stoll (80JD). “Basketball was one of the few sports her high school offered young girls.”
In the early 1930s, Atkinson’s team was poised for the state tournament until the school superintendent refused to let them play, fearing it would be too strenuous for the girls. “The superintendent said it would be too hard on the girls and would not allow the team to compete,” Stoll explains. “My mother said many of the parents protested and tried to talk to the superintendent. He was adamant that they could not go. It broke all their hearts.”
This decision left a lasting impression on Atkinson, who passed away in 2010 at age 94.
PHOTO COURTESY SHERYL STOLL
Atkinson’s Collins, Iowa, high school basketball team in 1930. Atkinson is pictured in the middle row, third from the left.
“When she would tell the story about her team, you could tell that she never got over it,” Stoll reflects. “They might have lost in the first game of the state tournament, but they never had the opportunity to see what they could do. I can’t fix what happened, but I wanted to bring light to the barriers that some of the early girls teams faced.”
A Celebration of Women in Sport
Click to enlarge
During a 2024 tour of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Stoll met with Jensen, sparking an idea. “We talked briefly about her grandmother and my mother—and it made me want to honor these pioneering women who were some of the first to play high school basketball,” Stoll recalls.
This led to the establishment of the Iowa High School Girls Basketball Pioneer Fund, designed to celebrate the state’s rich history in girls’ basketball and support the needs of Iowa women’s basketball. Stoll hopes to uncover more stories akin to those of her mother and Jensen’s grandmother from the early 1900s.
“What Sheryl has done is amazing,” Jensen says with gratitude. “It’s awesome that she’s honoring her mother in this way. I’m so thankful that our program has so many supporters—those who endow special funds like Sheryl, create scholarships, support Carver-Hawkeye Arena renovations, and support revenue share through the Women’s Basketball Flight Fund. It takes all of us.”
Click to enlarge
Stoll finds joy in supporting a team she loves and honoring her mother and others who paved the way for girls’ basketball in Iowa. “I know she would have been proud that Iowa has put women’s basketball—a sport that she played and loved—on a bigger stage,” Stoll says. “She would have loved to see how far the sport has come since her time on the court.”
Read More Here
