Thief River Falls - Part I
Northwestern Minnesota, 40 miles from East Grand Forks on Highway #59
Years Represented: 1916-1921
The book, Daughters of the Game, contains a team profile on Thief River Falls with two photos from 1919 and 1920. Joyce Chalupsky, Cohasset, identified her aunt, Dorothy Loen, as the player in the 1919 photo, back row, second from left end.
Joyce also provided information from the 1916 Thief River Falls high school yearbook. The information on "Girls' Basketball," reported on the 1916 season as follows:
"The history of Girls' Basketball at Thief River High is short, but there are great hopes for the future. Three years ago a basketball team was organized and met Bagley. In 1915, under Miss Birkeland, a team was organized which met Warren twice, each team scoring a victory. This year an athletic union has been formed among the girls; fifty members being enrolled. Of these, twenty or more have turned out regularly for basketball. One game was played with the team of the Woman's League, resulting in a victory of the High School girls. there is much good basketball material among the girls and there is no reason why Thief River Falls should not have a stronger girls basketball team than any of the neighboring towns.
"Basketball reaches only a very few of the two hundred girls enrolled here. As it is generally recognized that a sound mind in a sound body is the winning combination in life, it is to be hoped that some steps will be taken in the near future to insure athletic activity among the girls."
The yearbook also reported on inter-class basketball for girls and boys. The boys 8th - 12th grade teams did not include the "first string men." For the girls, it reported, "The Sophomore girls challenged the rest of the high school and succeeded in beating them twice though not without a struggle. Thomas, Loken, Sorenson, Loen, Wold and Lundberg were the particular stars of their teams and gave promise of a fast first team in the near future.
The 1916 photo did not identify the players.
Joyce also provided information from the 1916 Thief River Falls high school yearbook. The information on "Girls' Basketball," reported on the 1916 season as follows:
"The history of Girls' Basketball at Thief River High is short, but there are great hopes for the future. Three years ago a basketball team was organized and met Bagley. In 1915, under Miss Birkeland, a team was organized which met Warren twice, each team scoring a victory. This year an athletic union has been formed among the girls; fifty members being enrolled. Of these, twenty or more have turned out regularly for basketball. One game was played with the team of the Woman's League, resulting in a victory of the High School girls. there is much good basketball material among the girls and there is no reason why Thief River Falls should not have a stronger girls basketball team than any of the neighboring towns.
"Basketball reaches only a very few of the two hundred girls enrolled here. As it is generally recognized that a sound mind in a sound body is the winning combination in life, it is to be hoped that some steps will be taken in the near future to insure athletic activity among the girls."
The yearbook also reported on inter-class basketball for girls and boys. The boys 8th - 12th grade teams did not include the "first string men." For the girls, it reported, "The Sophomore girls challenged the rest of the high school and succeeded in beating them twice though not without a struggle. Thomas, Loken, Sorenson, Loen, Wold and Lundberg were the particular stars of their teams and gave promise of a fast first team in the near future.
The 1916 photo did not identify the players.
Thief River Falls 1916