Women's sports in the early to mid-1970s were in their infancy.
Title IX was passed in 1972 and was a major boost to girls' and women's athletics. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.
San Bernardino Valley College basketball coach Ray Blake saw the light. Blake in February of 1973 made history by sending a woman, Sue Palmer, into a “men’s” basketball game vs. Grossmont. Teammate Renee Ferguson also later entered the game.
Earlier, Blake tried to send Palmer into a game against San Diego City College, but SDCC players walked off the court. Palmer and Ferguson were on the men’s team because San Bernardino Valley College at that time did not have a women’s team.
Two years later, women’s sports began at the University of Redlands. The university on Feb. 8 of this year will celebrate 50 years of women’s sports. The schedule of events includes Bulldog softball and women’s home basketball games, a chance to tour the campus, and a 3 p.m. reception at the Orton to honor the past and future University of Redlands women’s athletes.
Former longtime Redlands East Valley High athletic director Rhonda Hoenisch Fouch will attend. She played volleyball and basketball at the University of Redlands from 1975 to 1979 and coached volleyball and softball from 1980 through ’88.
“I’m super excited about it and have been serving on the planning committee,” Hoenisch Fouch said. “I’m really looking forward to celebrating and seeing former teammates.”
Hoenisch Fouch has been reaching out to former teammates and friends she has not seen in 50 years to encourage them to attend.
“My best recollection from those years was (the lifetime friendships made) and to have been coached by outstanding coaches like Jack Flora, Debbie Bock and Rick Graey,” Hoenisch Fouch said. “I also look forward to re-connecting with so many terrific and successful young ladies that I had the opportunity to coach. It will be a fun journey down memory lane for sure.”
The Bulldog women’s athletic budget was not bursting at the seams in the 1970s. On one of Hoenisch Fouch’s teams, Bock put her players to work at her home silk-screening jerseys.
“They turned out great,” Hoenisch Fouch said. “We loved them.”
HONORED
Outgoing University of Redlands athletic director Jeff Martinez was recently honored in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo: Courtesy)
The University of Redlands’ outgoing athletic director Jeff Martinez was honored with the Daniel T. Dutcher Meritorious Service Award and the Richard A. Rasmussen Lifetime Achievement Award.
The honors were presented recently by the NCAA Division III Commissioners Association and the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. They recognize Martinez’s leadership, dedication, and impact on Division III athletics.
Martinez began his tenure at Redlands in 1983 as the head athletic trainer, served as the Bulldogs' first women’s golf coach, and has led the athletics department since 2000. He recently announced his retirement, effective May 23, 2025.
THUNDERBIRD WATCH
Coach James Simpson and his Yucaipa High boys basketball team are seeking the program's first league title since 1971. (Photo: Courtesy)
Slightly south of the Redlands city limits, the Yucaipa High boys basketball team is aiming to make history. Coach James Simpson’s Thunderbirds are trying to become the first Yucaipa boys basketball team to win a league title since 1971.
Simpson jokes that he is the only person in the Yucaipa gym these days who was even alive in ’71.
The Thunderbirds (18-3 overall, 5-0 Citrus Belt League) on Thursday survived a major scare, rallying from a 12-point first-half deficit to defeat host Cajon 43-42 on two Malik Young free throws with 11.1 seconds left. It was Yucaipa’s 13th consecutive victory.
Cajon and Yucaipa meet again at Yucaipa High on Feb. 4.
A third-generation San Francisco native. His first job was in Watsonville, where he wrote stories on a typewriter and people smoked in the office. He's covered Redlands, San Bernardino and Riverside.
