The following appeared on the jcusports.com website on September 21, 2010. Edits were made for the relevance of time:


For a college that had been for males only through its first 83 years, John Carroll University's transition to a fully co-educational institution in 1969 was sure to meet with its pockets of resistance and moments of encumbrance. 

The same could be said for its athletic department. A bastion of all male sports since its inception in 1920, the John Carroll men's coaches and administrators would be asked for the first time to share its space, its equipment and its time with a women's program. 

Kathleen Manning would be the person chosen to start up the women's intercollegiate athletic program at John Carroll. She took the assignment knowing full well that many obstacles were lying in wait, such as lack of locker rooms, transportation and staff. 

But where some people see challenges, others see opportunity. 

As 50 years worth of women's athletes at John Carroll can attest, Manning proved to be the latter. 


Starting from Scratch 

So how did it all start? With one woman: Kathleen Manning. 

Manning was hired in 1970 to teach women's physical education. Although she always had responsibility for women's athletics she was formally named the Coordinator of Women's Athletics, in 1974 by Fr. Henry Birkenhauer. 

Manning remembers a generally supportive atmosphere for her and the young women who wanted to play sports. But she definitely had her hurdles. 

"John Carroll traditionally was an old boy's network,'' said Jerry Schwieckert, a fellow coach and former standout athlete for John Carroll in the late 1950's. "She had to fight for everything she got.'' 

The fact was that transforming an all-male school into a co-ed much easier said than done. 

"There were plans for the academic programs as well as housing for women but there was no strategic plan for women's athletics," said Manning. "This was not unusual at that time. The groundwork for women's athletics needed to be established and built with a respect for tradition, while creating new traditions" 

An example of this could be found at the time in the structure of the well-organized men's intramural system. It was administered by the Iota Beta Gamma fraternity, and had been in place for many years. Schedules were established, and teams were formed well in advance. To simply claim some type of domain would have been counterproductive, so Manning chose to a more diplomatic approach. 

"We practiced in the evening after intramurals that first year," said Manning. "By the second year, we had games at the same time as intramurals, and by the third year, intramurals scheduled around a women's athletic event." 

It was that type of diplomacy that would win manning more friends than enemies in those formative years of the women's program. 

Of course, if an opportunity arose to make change happen quicker, Manning was ready for that as well. Such an example took place with the founding of the women's tennis team in 1974-75. 

"The men's team practiced at 3:30 and the women could not have the courts until after the men," recalled Manning. "But in early spring, it was dark by 5:30. So the women practiced at seven in the morning, indoors or out depending on the weather. But when a new men's tennis coach came to John Carroll, I merely told him that the men and women shared the courts for practice, and he agreed. So the men and women's tennis team each had three courts for practice on a daily basis from then on. I just waited until times were better, if that were at all possible." 


The Learning Curve 

The first two women's teams, basketball and volleyball, began in 1970. It was a learning experience for everyone. 

The women were learning the five-player game in basketball, while volleyball had transitioned to "Power Volleyball." The women were unfamiliar with these new sports so there was a huge learning curve for skill development. In addition, the female athletes were learning about the role of the athlete in terms of commitment, responsibility, organizing their time differently. Players would miss practice to take exams, finish term papers and even to go on dates. 

"If there was a big dance coming up, I didn't schedule anything," Manning said. "I was clear with the players that I would continue to ask for additional resources as their commitment increased. It was a learning experience for everyone. 

A primary area for growth was the development of a budget for uniforms, transportation, and food allowance. That did not happen in the first two years so the players wore gym suits and pinnies. Transportation often was Manning's Pontiac LeMans. 

"The point of it all was we were competing, and the spirit of the girls was fine," said Manning. 

Anne Conway was a member of the first women's basketball team. She recalls practicing at 10 o'clock at night, after the men were done, and using the bathroom to get changed because there was no women's locker room. 

For games, the team wore blue T-shirts with numbers made out of masking tape -- and they played as badly as they looked. 

"We were awful," Conway said. "I wouldn't want anyone to know the scores of those games." 

The important thing was the women were out there competing. If they had waited for everything to be perfect who knows when John Carroll would have begun the women's athletic program. 

"The program was built upon the determination and the spirit of females willing to practice, and compete with minimal advantages," said Manning. "It was a developmental process. 

Volleyball and basketball went through identical growing pains since they were the first two teams. By the time tennis was introduced in 1974-75 resources had improved and they continue to improve throughout the development of the women's programs. 

Perhaps one of the seminal moments for the development of the women's program was when one of the most established of the men's coaches stepped across the proverbial aisle. 

"In the fall of 1981, I was completing my doctoral program and writing my dissertation," said Manning. "Jerry Schweickert decided he would help me out. He was the Athletic Director, Physical Education Chair and Baseball Coach at the time he decided to join women's volleyball. He stayed as my assistant for nine years, and continued with Gretchen Weitbrecht until he retired from coaching. I am always thankful that he accepted that role." 

Schweickert had limited knowledge of the game but brought other talents to the table. 

"His spirit and belief about pride, tradition, commitment, not complaining, and looking for the good in yourself were great compliments to my own personality," Manning said. "Jerry watched from the sidelines during the first ten years of women's athletics but once he made a commitment to the program it was unwavering. The women's program is better for his willingness to give of himself and have a first-hand involvement." 


Making Strides 

In the spring of 1975, women's tennis began a competitive schedule, followed by women's swimming and diving in the early 1980's. 

Tennis was similar to volleyball and basketball in terms of the makeup of the team. 

"Players responded to an announcement that we were going to have a team," said Manning. " We didn't have recruiting at that point in women's athletics." 

Patrice McCauley Hulseman was one of the first members of the tennis team. She recalls a laid-back atmosphere in which it was more about putting together a team and getting the chance to play than to be subjected to tryouts. 

"In my freshman year, we showed up and just started hitting balls,'' said Hulseman, who is married to former JCU Hall of Fame swimmer, Paul Hulseman. "But I don't remember having to play a match to get on the team, which sounds kind of funny now." 

And yet, there was clear evidence that women's athletics was starting to get taken more seriously. 

"It was the little things," recalled Hulseman. "We had a few perks that were a big deal back then, such as the free Tretorn tennis shoes and vouchers for meals after matches." 

Both were signs that women's sports were making strides. 

Manning still has a plaque on her wall from the 1978 team. It reads "To the person who saw the skill and ability in us and developed it, who encouraged, put up, and stayed with us. But most of all believed in us and in what we could do." 


Validation 

In 1970, just a handful of women played in the first two women's sports that were formed, basketball and volleyball. Initially, they played an independent schedule, then moved to organized programs within the Western Reserve Athletic Conference (WRAC) and the Ohio Association of Intercollegiate Sports for Women (OAISW). 

Beginning in 1984-85, the women had a conference affiliation for competition in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC.) 

One of Manning's long-term goals was for John Carroll's women to join the Ohio Athletic Conference. With Athletic Director Tony DeCarlo on the same page, John Carroll filed for membership, and it was approved in time for the 1989-90 academic year. JCU has been a member of the ultra-competitive league ever since. 

The women's programs in the OAC represented standards that Manning used as her models while building the women's programs at John Carroll. 

"Being the only female in John Carroll's athletic department I had no points of comparison so Marcie French at Baldwin-Wallace and Sheila Wallace at Ohio Northern became role models for our women's programs. When Fr. Lavelle announced that John Carroll would join the OAC, I was very pleased." 

As Manning reflected on the fact that she had accomplished what she had initially set out to do, she also sensed it was time for a change. 

"I competed for one year in the OAC," said Manning. "But at that point I knew my job was finished. It was time for someone else to take over and continue the women's program." 

Looking back, Manning cherished the years she coached, despite the struggles. 

"I loved working with the girls,'' she said. "That was my only priority: What could I do to make their world and women's athletics a little bit better. The plan was to always move forward, look good, and keep getting better. We were blessed with supportive male students, Dr. Jim Lavin who continually supported my requests for increases in necessary resources, and Fr. Birkenhauer.

"Fr. Birkenhauer was my constant support in the building of women's athletics," said Manning. "I can't imagine what might have been if Fr. Birkenhauer had not been the president. I was fortunate." 

What started as two programs has now increased to 11. Seven of the 11 have captured league titles. Hundreds of student-athletes have earned all-conference recognition, over 50 have earned All-America status, and a select few have garnered national titles. 

There are over 30  female athletes who have been inducted into JCU's Athletic Hall of Fame. Rita Braun, an All-American diver in the late 70s and early 80s, was one of the first five women to receive the Hall of Fame honor. She competed on the men's team for a year before a women's team was formed. 

"My diving career was fantastic," said Braun. "I still think about it." 

For Braun, diving was more than just an athletic passion: It paved the way for her to get an education that her family otherwise couldn't afford. 

The men's swimming and diving coach at the time, Ron Zwierlein, and President of the University Father Birkenhauer helped her obtain an academic scholarship that paid for many of her expenses. 

"For me, going to John Carroll was a life changer," Braun said. "And it wasn't being on the diving team so much as it was attending and graduating from a really great university." 


Onward On ...Moving Forward

"For me, the heart and spirit of women's athletics from the beginning to the present will always be the female athletes," said Manning. "Regardless of challenges that we faced, it was always worth it. Because of the women who pioneered the program, and the female athletes who continue the tradition today, women's athletics at John Carroll continues to grow and prosper." 

Conway, now a chief U.S. District judge in Florida, said she has fond memories of her playing days and feels proud that she helped pave the way for women's sports at JCU. 

"We had a good time,'' she said. "And I think we showed the university that women belonged there. If we wanted to do it, we went and got it done."