The experiences, challenges and triumphs connect the past, present and future of women and girls in sports in Minnesota.
Leaders in advancing women’s and women’s sports in Minnesota were recognized for National Girls and Women in Sports Day at a ceremony inside the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul on Wednesday.
Honorees represented a variety of sports and included professional players, coaches, and students.
Former female tennis and Nordic ski student-athletes at St. Cloud State University won a Breaking Barriers Award for their role as Title IX plaintiffs, filing a lawsuit when the university canceled its sports programs. The court ordered SCSU to bring gender equity to its sports programs. The award was presented at the National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration at the Minnesota History Museum in St. Paul on Wednesday.
Judy Griesedieck for MPR News
They included former women’s Nordic ski and tennis athletes from St. Cloud State University who sued and won, alleging that the university violated Title IX by failing to provide equal opportunity for athletes.
Honorees cited the monumental federal civil rights law of 1972 and the advances and struggles that women and girls have faced in the years that have followed.
“I am here today as a leader, and I have this opportunity because I am standing on the shoulders of so many,” said event co-director Jennifer Flowers. “And there are so many of you who are going to stand on my shoulders one day.”
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The founders of Minnesota Aurora were also honored for winning thousands of investors to start the pre-pro soccer team, which sold out games immediately and won the USLW regular season title.
Team president Andrea Yoch said the entire team process elevates the women.
“We are showing them that they can be CFOs, they can be team lawyers, marketing people,” Yoch said. “And from our first year we know that not only is the future bright for Minnesota Aurora, but the future is truly bright for girls and women in sports.”
Shana Black, coach of the St. Cloud Apollo High School Majorettes dance team, proudly watches as one of her students, Anna Meyer-Stark, receives the Wilma Rudolf Courage Award at the National Day of Girls and Women celebration at the Sport at the Minnesota History Museum in St. Paul on Wednesday.
Judy Griesedieck for MPR News
A coach and a student were also honored with individual awards for their roles with the St. Cloud Apollo High School Majorettes.
Coach Shana Black started the dance team in 2021 for girls who would like to dance but had no dance experience. All girls are welcome to join the team. Black received an award for breaking barriers.
“I’m bringing out potential that they didn’t know they had,” Black said in a district video about the team. “I’ve seen them open up so much.”
Anna Meyer-Stark, who learned to walk at the age of three and a half, is one of the students on the dance team.
“I really like when the audience claps with me,” Meyer-Stark told the audience. “Dancing makes me feel very good in my soul.”
Meyer-Stark’s mother, Joanie Meyer, accompanied her onstage at the award ceremony inside the Minnesota History Center auditorium. Although her mother describes her facing physical and academic difficulties after being born at just 25 weeks, Meyer-Stark said dancing is where her daughter finds her rhythm.
Anna Meyer-Stark proudly holds her plaque of appreciation after receiving the WIlma Rudolf Courage Award at the National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration at the Minnesota History Museum in St. Paul on Wednesday. Anna is a member of the St Paul Apollo High School Majorettes dance team.
Judy Griesedieck for MPR News
“She can’t work to her strengths, school is hard for her,” Meyer-Stark said. “But when she dances, she’s a dancer.”
In 1986, Olympian volleyball player Flo Hyman was the first to be honored posthumously for her work for equality in women’s sports.
