O God of players : the story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs / Julie Byrne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Byrne, Julie, 1968-

Series:

Religion and American culture (New York, N.Y.)

Religion and American culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Immaculata College--Basketball--History.

Immaculata College.

Immaculata Mighty Macs (Basketball team)--History.

Immaculata Mighty Macs (Basketball team).

Basketball for women--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History.

Basketball for women.

History.

Basketball.

Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Physical Description:

xvii, 291 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2003]

Summary:

Between 1972 and 1974, the Mighty Macs of Immaculata College--a small Catholic women's school outside Philadelphia--made history by winning the first three women's national college-basketball championships ever played. In 1972, this unlikely fifteenth-seeded team, representing the smallest school in the tournament and the only Catholic institution, triumphed against enormous odds and four powerhouse state teams to secure the championship title and capture the imaginations of fans and sportswriters across the country. In doing so, they helped to legitimize women's sports in America. In the early 1970s, few women participated in organized athletics, but in Catholic Philadelphia women's basketball was already a well-established, thirty-year tradition, sponsored by the Philadelphia Archdiocese far in advance of public schools. In this vivid account of Immaculata basketball, Julie Byrne explores the unusual lives of these young women, the rare opportunities and pleasures they were allowed, the religious culture in which they lived, and the broader ideas of womanhood they inspired and helped redefine.

Contents:

Introduction: Philadelphia Hoop and Catholic Fun 1

Chapter 1 Making the Team, Making Identity 31

Chapter 2 Practicing Basketball, Practicing Class 55

Chapter 3 Bodies in Basketball 76

Chapter 4 Praying for the Team 113

Chapter 5 Ladies of the Court 142

Chapter 6 Championships and Community 173

Postscript: Immaculata Basketball and U.S. Religious History 206

Appendix B Surveys, Interviews, Correspondence, and Unpublished Memoirs 217.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]-277) and index.

ISBN:

0231127480

0231127499

OCLC:

51655424