Iowa Girls 6-on-6 Basketball Player Stories: Franklin Consolidated High School (1952-1953)

This segment from Iowa PBS’s More Than a Game: 6-on-6 Basketball in Iowa documentary takes a look back at the state tournament in Des Moines from players who were there.

Transcript

Narrator: The week in Des Moines for the state tournament was packed with festivities in honor of the young female athletes. At the top of the list was the elaborate tournament breakfast, including the coronation of the basketball queen. Over fifty years ago, Franklin Consolidated made back-to-back appearances in the state tournament in 1952 and 1953.

We were treated like queens.

[ laughter ]

We stayed in a hotel downtown --

The savory.

And they would take us back and forth to -- We played at Drake at that time. It was before the auditorium, and they would take us back and forth in cabs is how we rode.

It usually meant staying down there all week.

Even if we lost in that first round, we got to stay all week. It was great. The spectators and stuff, there were so many there. My parents came to Des Moines, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles and cousins. Everybody was so thrilled for us and it was a wonderful feeling.

The businesses were all behind us and we got telegrams and flowers. We'd never been treated like that before.