Robert W. Ikard

Just for Fun: The Story of AAU Women’s Basketball

Prior to the 1972 passage of Title IX, women’s basketball was a minor sport in the United States. It was played by companies such as Cook’s Goldblume Beer and Sunoco and for obscure colleges such as Iowa Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist as part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). But during the two generations of the mid-twentieth century, women’s basketball improved and became more popular throughout the country. This is the history of these gifted women, their coaches, and their teams—their records, motivations, and personal stories. Extensively illustrated, Just for Fun is the first book to thoroughly explore the complex history of the Amateur Athletic Union’s women’s basketball program and to bring to light the four decades of women’s basketball all but forgotten in the current success of women’s athletics.

Robert W. Ikard is a thoracic surgeon, basketball enthusiast, and amateur historian who lives in Nashville. He is the author of two previous books: Near You: Francis Craig, Dean of Southern Maestros and No More Social Lynching. His father taught science and coached the girls’ basketball team in Hampshire, Tennessee.