High school girls lose to boys’ sports

For The Madera Tribune

Madera Union High School girls’ basketball team, 1916. From left, are Ethyl McGumer Pinion, Lena Northern Adams, Effie Rayborn Wood, Dorothy Whiting, Pauline Stahl Scott and Ruby Russell.

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It may have been a man’s world in 1915, but a group of teen-age women, through persistence, skill, and a little luck, put Madera on the athletic map. In that year the girls’ basketball team from Madera High School fought its way to the top of the central section of the California Interscholastic Federation only to have the rug jerked from under them in favor of male sports.

The team was optimistic right from the start, primarily because in 1915 they had a “real” coach in the person of Hazel Clark. Practices began early in the year, and thanks to Clark’s initiative, a bumper crop of female hoop enthusiasts turned out on opening day. From the group of 22, six regulars were chosen: forwards Dot Whiting and Effie Raburn, centers Hazel Appling and Ethel McCumber, and guards Lena Northern and Gladys Stevens. By Dec. 1, 1914, these young ladies had been molded into a precision team and were ready to take on the world. Their first victim was Easton, whom the Maderans defeated 28-8.

On December 5, the Madera girls traveled to Easton for a return game. The match was “hot and heavy,” reflecting perhaps the fact that Dot Whiting, the team captain, could not attend. Although the Madera team was victorious, it won by only three points, 13-10.