Halifax university marks 50 years of women’s sports

Fifty years ago, Kathy Mullane came onto the Saint Mary’s University (SMU) campus in Halifax with one daunting task: Put together two female teams in a month.

Mullane served as the basketball and field hockey coach for the women’s varsity teams when SMU introduced those programs in 1974.

“I was hired to coach basketball, but at that time in the 70s, most female athletes wanted to play both sports,” she told CTV News Atlantic’s Todd Battis during a sit-down interview on Thursday. “They’d play field hockey in the fall and move into basketball.

“I asked if I could do both.”

A recent documentary called “The First 50” celebrates and chronicles the half-century of women’s sports at the university.

Mullane noted SMU did not increase its budget for sports programs when it added the women’s teams.

“Men had to share the gymnasium and the field,” she said. “Myself and some of the players would line the field (for hockey).”

Mullane said she’s impressed with how far the program has come.

“I can’t believe 50 years has gone by and I can’t believe how the program has grown,” she said. “It is very satisfying. From the very start of the program, we have produced outstanding female athletes.”

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