Eagerly awaiting O'Brate Stadium opening in Stillwater
My love of sports began as a young girl growing up int he' 40s&' 50s& living in the small town of Holdenville. There were no organized or sandlot sporting activities for girls back then. Kick-the-can was about the only sporting event where I played with the neighborhood kids about every night in the summer time.
In grade school we did have boys & girls basketball teams that played the country schools just during school hours. Also, I played softball on our school playground with my dad traveling many miles to find me a left-handed softball glove, but there were no organized teams. Our local
Kwanis Club has sponsored an elementary Little Olympics for many years in Holdenville. However, when I was growing up, girls could not participate in any of the events even though we would beat the boys in the dashes & relays on the school ground. Then in the late '50s I played guard on our first high school girl's basketball team.
As an eighth grade
English teacher, I helped keep the books for our ball teams. When my younger son played quarterback on our Holdenville football team, point guard in basketball and center field in baseball, I followed all his teams. He also played & coached American Legion baseball that meant traveling many miles to his games.
I started attending OSU sporting events when my school was Oklahoma A&M with my parents taking me to the annual Bedlam football game in Stillwater that was traditionally played the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Then as time has evolved, our family has become long-time season ticket holders for OSU football, baseball, men's & women's basketball & wrestling.
I am so excited & anticipating t he opening of OSU's magnificent O'Brate Stadium next spring which will make me a very proud OSU Cowgirl whose lifelong love of sports keeps on going.
Karen Brewer Anderson