VANCOUVER –The phrase "ahead of their time" is used commonly. Enter the 1969-70 UBC Basketball Thunderettes. They were a hard fouling, dynamic group so "ahead of their time"; you could almost retire the phrase to a Hall of Fame because they so embody it.
On Wednesday evening, the Thunderettes were inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame. The team rolled through the 1969-70 basketball season with a 32-6 record, culminated by a 116-44 shellacking of Saskatchewan in a two-game, total-point series to claim the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Championship.
We caught up with the group of players who are credited with both breaking the gender barrier in varsity sports and opening an era of dominance for women's basketball at UBC.
LC: What does this moment mean to you and your team? All these years later you're in the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Betty Ross: To me it means an opportunity to get together with all these good friends and such fantastic teammates. We can reminisce, talk about old times and remember what a special group we were. We were all for one, an amazing group and I don't know if we knew it at the time, but we were breaking barriers. We were the first women's team to play in War Memorial Gym. It's just great to be back together again and it's like we were never apart.
LC: Can you pinpoint anyone along this great journey who was a big inspiration to the team?
Terry McGovern: Ken Shields and Norm Vickery, our coaches, were kind of inspirational just in how hard they made us work. They pushed us to be the best athletes we could be…the teams from Victoria were so good at those times, and we really strived to beat them. Heather Cranston on our team was really 'the glue' and has kept us connected in the forty-seven years since we've played together.
LC: Is there anything the Thunderettes did before the game to get fired up or any team superstitions?
Betty Ross: We had a dog.
Terry McGovern: Yes, we had Penny.
Betty Ross: I'm not sure if she came to all the practices?
Terry McGovern: Yes, she did. I remember during practices we had to do all the fitness and the wind sprints. We'd all be exhausted and get on the bench and Penny would get on the floor and do her own wind sprints. She'd just be there racing around the floor.
Betty Ross: She was quite the little 'ball of fluff'.
Learn more about the 1969-70 Thunderettes induction into the BC Sports Hall of Fame here.
