Reflections: Pioneers in women’s basketball look back at progress in the sport
By Hannah Gebresilassie “We’re girls and we just want to have fun,” said 90-year-old Mary Wersells, the first girls’ basketball coach at Simeon High School as she reflected on the history of the sport. Nearly four decades ago, Title IX was enforced which prohibited discrimination against female athletes. This opened the doors for pioneers in […]
Medill Reports Newscast: NFL Draft Edition
By Jasmine M. Ellis With the NFL Draft in town, Chicago expects a huge turn out from fans. Watch our team coverage on what to expect. [vimeo 164485740 w=474] Photo at top: Chicago is ready for the 2016 NFL Draft in Grant Park. (Caroline Kenny/MEDILL)
KAOS youth club uses sports, mentoring as alternative to Chicago’s chaotic streets
By Hannah Gebresilassie Ty Young is giving back to the streets that put a bullet in his son. While Young, a pharmacy tech, couldn’t keep his son from being shot in 2013, he could do something about the South Side youth culture that created the perilous landscape in the first place.
Women’s wrestling takes a strong stance
By Jasmine Cannon Until two decades ago, a fan could go to a wrestling match and all of the athletes shared a common trait: they were male. Now the ladies have leagues of their own. Twelve years ago, women’s wrestling became an Olympic sport. Today 28 colleges sponsor a varsity program and more than 11,000 […]
Sports History 101: How Roosevelt University transformed a parking lot into an athletic program
Q&A with Athletic Director Mike Cassidy By Abbas Haleem Seven years ago, Mike Cassidy walked the perimeter of a parking lot on the southeast corner of Congress and Wabash, wondering how an athletics center could fit there. Roosevelt University had just hired him to bring varsity athletics back after a 20-year hiatus. His charge: to […]
