Women’s athletics: today and yesterday 
The 1972 Title IX law, which championed women’s intercollegiate athletics, marks its 40th anniversary this year, so we looked back on the beginning of women’s athletic teams at Missouri Western, and then took a look at some of the exciting things happening today.

Today: Facilities improvements, new staff and outstanding athletes 
Women’s locker rooms improve  
Several women’s athletics facilities have seen improvements recently, and one team finally has a locker room to call its own.    

In the spring of 2011, the softball team gained a new field in the Spring Sports Complex, and in the past year, the volleyball team’s locker room was remodeled. That project included new lockers, new carpet, a television, a computer center and film desk.

But perhaps most importantly, the biggest improvement to women’s athletics this year is that the soccer team now has a state-of-the-art locker room.

Kurt McGuffin, director of athletics, said when he arrived in the fall of 2011 and looked over all the athletic programs, getting a locker room for the then six-year-old soccer team was a top priority. The team has the largest roster – 22 this season – of all the women’s teams, yet it had no locker room and a lower operating budget than other women’s teams. (That budget increased this year, too, thanks to the Gold Coat Victory Fund.)

The new locker room was part of the recent $220,000 remodeling of the Baker Family Fitness Center, completed in August. The soccer team plays in Spratt Memorial Stadium, which is adjacent to the Baker Center.

“I know the players are excited,” said Chad Edwards, the second-year soccer coach. “I’m excited to have our own place to call ‘home.’”  He expects the new facilities will provide a recruiting boost as well.
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Women’s basketball: new head coach and assistant coach  
Rob Edmisson was hired as head coach for women’s basketball this past spring and Roger Smith was hired as assistant coach.

Rob came to the university from Oklahoma City University, where he was head coach since 2005. He brings 16 years of college head coaching experience to Missouri Western.      

Rob holds a career coaching record over 22 years of 514-150, including a 212-31 record at OCU. His 2011-12 team finished the season 35-1 overall and won the NAIA national championship game.
    
He led OCU to five conference regular-season championships, five conference tournament titles and seven NAIA Division I tournaments in seven seasons
Rob Edmison has done a terrific job for us at Oklahoma City University,” said Jim Abbott, assistant vice president for intercollegiate athletics at OCU. “Rob is very passionate and demanding, and the results of his efforts have helped maintain OCU as the most successful women’s basketball program in the country. Rob is a terrific recruiter, is committed to the academic pursuits of his student athletes, and his teams have enjoyed terrific success on the court.”

Rob began his head coaching career at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kan., in 1993, where he spent nine seasons. His teams went 192-89 overall, qualified for the regional playoffs eight times and produced 25 All-Conference players. He was then hired as assistant coach at Oklahoma State University before being named head coach at OCU.

“I’m very grateful that President Vartabedian and Kurt McGuffin are giving me the opportunity to take over the women’s basketball program,” Rob said when he was hired. “I look forward to helping to return the program to a level where we are year-in, year-out competing for MIAA and NCAA championships.”

Rob and his wife, Gina, have two children, Corbin and Cierra.   

Roger came from Oklahoma City University. He also coached in the Oklahoma City area on the high school level, winning a state championship while on the staff at Putnam City High School. Roger served as the head coach at Casady School and Little Axe High School, and while on the staff at John Marshall High School, the team made it to the state semifinals.
    
Roger and his wife, Cristina, have three children, Isabella, Griffin and Price.

Two graduate assistants join women’s athletics 
Two women were recently hired as assistants for women’s basketball and soccer. Women’s basketball coach Rob Edmisson hired Tiffany Goldwire, who had played at Oklahoma City University under Rob for two seasons. She was on last season’s national championship team.

“Tiffany is without a doubt one of the highest energy people I have been around,” Rob said. “She has a great knowledge of the game for a young coach. Having played for me and having been on our national championship team will be a huge asset for our staff.”

Tiffany, originally from Oklahoma City, played high school basketball at Del City before playing two season of junior college basketball at Northern-Enid. She majored in kinesiology at Oklahoma City and is in the sport and fitness management graduate program here.

Katie Valdez joined the women’s soccer staff for the next two seasons, and she is the first assistant coach for the soccer program. She is also earning the sport and fitness management master’s degree at Missouri Western. Katie, originally from Houston, played two seasons for the Northeastern State University RiverHawks in Talequah, Okla. She said she has been playing soccer since she was four years old.

“I’ve always been really interested in coaching, especially women’s soccer. Soccer is something I have loved forever,” Katie said. “To be able to coach and continue my education is a win-win for me.”

“Katie will make an immediate impact on our program and players,” coach Chad Edwards said when she was hired. “I am looking forward to working with her and know that she will be a tremendous asset for the program.”

Before playing for the RiverHawks, she played two seasons at Centenary College of Shreveport, La. As a junior for the RiverHawks, she was named to the Lone Star All-Conference first team and last year she helped her squad to an 11-4-2 record. She graduated from NSU with a human and health performance degree.
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Women’s Athletics Points of Pride

  • The softball team under Coach Jen Bagley played in its sixth NCAA regional in the past eight years.
  • In 11 events in the 2011-12 seasons, the women’s golf team recorded two first places and five second-place finishes.
  • The women student-athletes have earned a 3.18 GPA overall for the past three years. The women’s basketball team had the ninth highest GPA in the nation for the 2009-10 academic year. Women’s soccer was awarded NSCAA Team Academic Awards for the 2010-11 academic year.
  • Jessica Koch became the all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball history in the 2011-12 season with 1,727 career points.
  • In the past year, women athletes spent countless hours volunteering in the community for Second Harvest Community Food Bank, Salvation Army, Special Olympics, Noyes Home, Make-a-Wish Foundation, and more.

 

Today, Missouri Western offers 10 intercollegiate sports, and six of them are for women: basketball, golf, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. From 1975 on, basketball, softball, volleyball and tennis were the only women’s sports until golf was added in 2002 and soccer in 2005.

 

Patsy Smith: athlete to administrator 
Twenty-two years ago, Patsy Smith ’95, enrolled in college to earn an accounting degree, and she has been a part of Missouri Western athletics ever since. As an athlete, a parent of athletes, a coach and an administrator, she has firsthand knowledge of women’s athletics at Missouri Western.

     Although she was a nontraditional student, Patsy decided to play at the suggestion of Karen Mollus, the women’s tennis coach at the time. When Patsy’s daughter, Wendy, transferred to Missouri Western two years later, she and Patsy were the no. 1 duo on the team.

     In 1994, even before she graduated, Patsy took over the tennis team as coach. Then she had the pleasure of coaching her daughter, Shannon, when she joined the team. In 1998, Patsy coached the team to its first ever NCAA Tournament.

     That same year, she became the first athletics business manager at Missouri Western. Since then, she has served in the department of athletics as compliance and academics, director of finance, and assistant athletics director. Today, she is the associate director of athletics and the senior woman administrator. She also oversees women’s soccer, tennis and volleyball.

     Patsy said the fact that she was the firstwoman who was not coaching at the time to hold the senior woman administrator position showed that Missouri Western administration saw the importance of a woman being involved in the administrative side. “They’ve (the administration) been progressive in adding sports and adding positions that support women’s athletics.” She also noted that the MIAA conference has also been progressive in involving women in decision-making, noting that the senior woman administrators from each institution vote along with the athletic directors.

     That has given women the opportunity to serve on national committees, and Patsy just concluded a term as a member of the NCAA Division II Championships Committee.

     She said she has enjoyed her years in Missouri Western athletics and doesn’t see a lot of change in the female athletes from her coaching and playing years to today. “They are still competitive,” she said of the women. “They want to win and be a part of athletics as much as ever.”

     Today, she says, women’s sports are a prominent part of Missouri Western’s athletic program, playing an equal role to the men’s sports.

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