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6-on-6 girls basketball in Iowa blazed the trail for stars like Caitlin Clark

6-on-6 girls basketball in Iowa blazed the trail for stars like Caitlin Clark
NEW YORK. AND THAT IS WHERE WE FIND SHANNON EARHART. SHANNON, I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN A RUNNER FOUND GETTING THE INTERVIEWS, WATCHING THE CONFETTI FALL. WHAT A HISTORIC NIGHT FOR CAITLIN CLARK AND THE IOWA HAWKEYES HEADED TO THE FINAL FOUR. SCOTT. SHE CAN’T BE GUARDED. SHE LITERALLY CANNOT BE GUARDED. SHE IS UNBELIEVABLE. SHE IS UNLIKE ANYTHING WE HAVE EVER SEEN. WE HAVE SEEN PLAYERS ALL SEASON TRY TO SLOW HER DOWN. IT JUST CANNOT BE DONE. LIKE YOU SAID, 41 POINTS, 12 ASSISTS. LSU COULD NOT HANG WITH IOWA. IOWA’S GOAL WAS TO RUN THEM DOWN THERE OUR THROATS AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID. THEY PLAYED PHENOMENAL IN TRANSITION OFFENSE. THEY GOT A TON OF POINTS OFF OF TURNOVERS, WHICH IS WHAT ANOTHER GOAL OF THEIRS WAS, WAS PLAY GOOD DEFENSE, GRAB THOSE REBOUNDS, LIMIT THE BOARDS AND TAKE THE BALL AND RUN. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID. I MEAN, TALK ABOUT THE PACING, THE SPACING, THE PASSING, THE SCORING. THIS IOWA TEAM GOT HOT 31 POINTS SCORED ON THEM IN THE FIRST QUARTER. THEY RUBBED THAT OFF THEIR SHOULDERS AND THEY SAID, LET’S GO. LET’S FORGET ABOUT IT. YOU CANNOT LIVE IN THE PAST. YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE PRESENT. LISA BLUDER ALWAYS SAYS, BE WHERE YOUR FEET ARE. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT IOWA DID. COACH JAN JENSEN SAID THE GOAL FOR THEM WAS TRANSITION ON OFFENSE AND GETTING STOPS DOWN THE STRETCH AS WELL. THEY DID THAT. THEY CAME UP BIG IN THE SECOND HALF. THEY PUT UP BIG NUMBERS AGAINST A TEAM WHO IS SO PHYSICAL AND ELITE DEFENSIVELY. THE NUMBER ONE REBOUNDING TEAM IN THE COUNTRY. JAN JENSEN, GOT THOSE BIGS READY THERE. YOU SAW THREE OF THEM IN THERE. YOU SAW AJ EDINGER. YOU SAW ADDIE O’GRADY. AND THEN OF COURSE HANNAH. STEELE CAME WHEN SHE GOT INTO FOUL TROUBLE. ADDIE O’GRADY STEPPED UP FOR THE HAWKEYES. BUT MORAL OF THE STORY CAITLIN CLARK DOES IT YET AGAIN. SHE SHE CAN’T BE STOPPED. SHE COULD NOT BE GUARDED. NEXT STOP, THE FINAL FOUR. BACK TO BACK APPEARANCES DOES NOT GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS FOR IOWA. IT’S JUST ALWAYS GOING TO BE A GREAT COMPETITIVE GAME. I MEAN, BOTH TEAMS WERE LOADED WITH TONS OF TALENT AND, YOU KNOW, IT WAS NEVER QUIET IN THAT GYM. THE GYM WAS SO LOUD FOR BOTH TEAMS. UM, AND I THINK THAT’S JUST AMAZING FOR THE GAME. ABLE TO GET THERE AND, UM, EVERYBODY’S ROLES CHANGED PRETTY MUCH. AND BEING ABLE T
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6-on-6 girls basketball in Iowa blazed the trail for stars like Caitlin Clark
Imagine Iowa star Caitlin Clark playing a basketball game where the rules allowed her just two dribbles before she had to pass or shoot and it was illegal for her to cross the halfcourt line.For most of the 20th century, this was girls basketball in Iowa. The game was 6-on-6 with three girls on one side of the court playing defense and three on the other side playing offense.Video above: Iowa beats LSU to get back to Final FourThe rules might seem archaic now, if not blatantly sexist, but it was popular: Girls high school games filled gyms to capacity in many towns and state tournament tickets were resold at a premium, with the finals televised in nine Midwestern states.“Sometimes it was so loud in our little gym that we couldn’t even hear the coach when we were in a huddle,” said Nancy Schmitz, who starred at Elk Horn-Kimballton in the 1960s when her name was Nancy Wolken. “It was really dynamic. A lot of screaming and hollering. And we all loved to play. I should have studied more, but I loved to play. Every game the gym was full.”Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, associate head coach Jan Jensen and assistant Jenni Fitzgerald grew up playing 6-on-6 and Clark regularly gives a nod to her forebears in the sport.“When I hear from a lot of people that played basketball, whether it was 6-on-6 however many years ago, I think they're blown away at where women's basketball is now and the platform we get to play on," Clark said. “That doesn't come if it's not for the people who came before us.”How might Clark have faredWith her long-range shooting and nifty passing, Clark has become the face of women's basketball and is among the most popular athletes in the United States. She has averaged 32 points per game this season and passed Pete Maravich as the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer.Jensen, one of the state's all-time high school greats, said Clark would have been just as formidable in the 6-girl game. Those shots from the perimeter and thread-the-needle passes would have been part of her game; her snaking drives to the basket not so much because of the two-dribble limit.“She would have probably rewritten all the scoring records,” Jensen said. "Just scoring and focusing on the shooting aspect, that would have been right up her alley.”HAWKEYES IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENTRound 1: Hawkeyes run away from Holy CrossMarch Madness: Highlights and photos from Iowa's win over Holy CrossRound of 32: Hawkeyes survive to top West Virginia, 64-54March Madness: Highlights and photos from Iowa-West VirginiaSweet 16: Hawkeyes have no problem with Colorado, set up rematch vs. LSUMarch Madness: Highlights and photos from Iowa-Colorado in the Sweet 16Elite Eight: Clark leads Iowa back to Final Four, scoring 41 points in win over LSUMarch Madness: Highlights and photos from Iowa-LSU in the Elite EightSpecial rules for 6-on-6Iowa high schools could choose to play five-on-five beginning in 1984 but many small schools kept playing 6-on-6 until 1993, only 23 years before Clark's freshman year at Dowling Catholic High in West Des Moines.Chuck Offenburger, a retired Des Moines Register columnist and now an author who writes about Iowa news and culture on Offenburger.com, said immigrants from northern Europe who settled in the state in the 19th century believed strongly in physical fitness for both sexes.Boys and girls worked alongside each other in the farm fields, and basketball was seen as a suitable competitive outlet for all. The caveat was that the sport was considered too strenuous for girls of that era, so special rules were made.Even at that, a federal study on physical education in the 1920s put the kibosh on girls basketball in some areas of the state."The conclusion was that girls should not be involved in interscholastic and competitive athletics because it could affect their birthing capacity in later life,” Offenburger said. “The larger schools in the larger towns and cities just bought that lock, stock and barrel, and they ended their programs.”Iowa girls basketball ahead of its timeIn 6-on-6, players on the defensive side did not inbound the ball and bring it up after the opponent made a basket. Instead, the referee would throw the ball to halfcourt, where his partner would give it to a forward to initiate the next sequence of play.Games could be fast-paced and high-scoring. Jensen averaged just under 66 points per game as a senior in 1987 at Elk Horn-Kimballton, and she went on to become a national scoring leader and All-American at Drake. Jensen's grandmother, Dorcas Anderson, was MVP of the 1921 state tournament for Audubon and nicknamed “Lotty” because she scored a lot of points.In 1926, Irene Silka of Maynard became the first girl to score 100 points in a game. Denise Long of Union-Whitten was so dominant that she was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors in 1969 as a publicity stunt. Lynne Lorenzen of Ventura set the still-standing national career scoring record in 1987 (an astonishing 6,736 points).Schmitz, who lives in La Vista, Nebraska, preceded Jensen by 20 years at Elk Horn and played on the 1967 team that was the school's first to reach the state tournament. Her black-and-orange No. 35 jersey, white Converse All-Star canvas high tops and a scrapbook are among the memorabilia she's kept from her playing days.“I was disappointed and a little sad when Iowa girls 6-on-6 basketball came to an end,” she said. “The game had a uniqueness all its own.”Many states didn't offer girls sports until the 1970s. By then, girls basketball had been ingrained in Iowa's culture for more than a half-century, so Schmitz said she and her teammates didn't realize they were ahead of their time.“I felt very blessed to have competed during that era,” she said, “and many of my teammates and I have known each other since grade school and still maintain those friendships and love to reminisce about our days together on the court.”

Imagine Iowa star Caitlin Clark playing a basketball game where the rules allowed her just two dribbles before she had to pass or shoot and it was illegal for her to cross the halfcourt line.

For most of the 20th century, this was girls basketball in Iowa. The game was 6-on-6 with three girls on one side of the court playing defense and three on the other side playing offense.

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Video above: Iowa beats LSU to get back to Final Four

The rules might seem archaic now, if not blatantly sexist, but it was popular: Girls high school games filled gyms to capacity in many towns and state tournament tickets were resold at a premium, with the finals televised in nine Midwestern states.

“Sometimes it was so loud in our little gym that we couldn’t even hear the coach when we were in a huddle,” said Nancy Schmitz, who starred at Elk Horn-Kimballton in the 1960s when her name was Nancy Wolken. “It was really dynamic. A lot of screaming and hollering. And we all loved to play. I should have studied more, but I loved to play. Every game the gym was full.”

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, associate head coach Jan Jensen and assistant Jenni Fitzgerald grew up playing 6-on-6 and Clark regularly gives a nod to her forebears in the sport.

“When I hear from a lot of people that played basketball, whether it was 6-on-6 however many years ago, I think they're blown away at where women's basketball is now and the platform we get to play on," Clark said. “That doesn't come if it's not for the people who came before us.”

How might Clark have fared

With her long-range shooting and nifty passing, Clark has become the face of women's basketball and is among the most popular athletes in the United States. She has averaged 32 points per game this season and passed Pete Maravich as the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer.

Jensen, one of the state's all-time high school greats, said Clark would have been just as formidable in the 6-girl game. Those shots from the perimeter and thread-the-needle passes would have been part of her game; her snaking drives to the basket not so much because of the two-dribble limit.

“She would have probably rewritten all the scoring records,” Jensen said. "Just scoring and focusing on the shooting aspect, that would have been right up her alley.”

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 3: Associate head coach Jan Jensen (C) of the Iowa Hawkeyes hugs guard Caitlin Clark #22 as head coach Lisa Bluder (L) looks on during the senior day program following the match-up against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 3, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
Matthew Holst
Associate head coach Jan Jensen (C) of the Iowa Hawkeyes hugs guard Caitlin Clark #22 as head coach Lisa Bluder (L) looks on during the senior day program following the match-up against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 3, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa.

HAWKEYES IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Special rules for 6-on-6

Iowa high schools could choose to play five-on-five beginning in 1984 but many small schools kept playing 6-on-6 until 1993, only 23 years before Clark's freshman year at Dowling Catholic High in West Des Moines.

Chuck Offenburger, a retired Des Moines Register columnist and now an author who writes about Iowa news and culture on Offenburger.com, said immigrants from northern Europe who settled in the state in the 19th century believed strongly in physical fitness for both sexes.

Boys and girls worked alongside each other in the farm fields, and basketball was seen as a suitable competitive outlet for all. The caveat was that the sport was considered too strenuous for girls of that era, so special rules were made.

Even at that, a federal study on physical education in the 1920s put the kibosh on girls basketball in some areas of the state.

"The conclusion was that girls should not be involved in interscholastic and competitive athletics because it could affect their birthing capacity in later life,” Offenburger said. “The larger schools in the larger towns and cities just bought that lock, stock and barrel, and they ended their programs.”

Iowa girls basketball ahead of its time

In 6-on-6, players on the defensive side did not inbound the ball and bring it up after the opponent made a basket. Instead, the referee would throw the ball to halfcourt, where his partner would give it to a forward to initiate the next sequence of play.

Games could be fast-paced and high-scoring. Jensen averaged just under 66 points per game as a senior in 1987 at Elk Horn-Kimballton, and she went on to become a national scoring leader and All-American at Drake. Jensen's grandmother, Dorcas Anderson, was MVP of the 1921 state tournament for Audubon and nicknamed “Lotty” because she scored a lot of points.

In 1926, Irene Silka of Maynard became the first girl to score 100 points in a game. Denise Long of Union-Whitten was so dominant that she was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors in 1969 as a publicity stunt. Lynne Lorenzen of Ventura set the still-standing national career scoring record in 1987 (an astonishing 6,736 points).

Schmitz, who lives in La Vista, Nebraska, preceded Jensen by 20 years at Elk Horn and played on the 1967 team that was the school's first to reach the state tournament. Her black-and-orange No. 35 jersey, white Converse All-Star canvas high tops and a scrapbook are among the memorabilia she's kept from her playing days.

“I was disappointed and a little sad when Iowa girls 6-on-6 basketball came to an end,” she said. “The game had a uniqueness all its own.”

Many states didn't offer girls sports until the 1970s. By then, girls basketball had been ingrained in Iowa's culture for more than a half-century, so Schmitz said she and her teammates didn't realize they were ahead of their time.

“I felt very blessed to have competed during that era,” she said, “and many of my teammates and I have known each other since grade school and still maintain those friendships and love to reminisce about our days together on the court.”