 |
 Beaver Falls produced many famous athletes
over the years –
Joe Namath,
Joe Walton,
Bucky Mutscheller, and
Joe Lonnett, to name a few – but none of them was a pioneer. Ruth Podbielski was. After graduating from Beaver Falls in
1944, she attended Slipper Rock State Teachers College and played
intramural sports, graduating in 1949. She taught at Butler High
School through 1955 and then accepted a position at Indiana
University of Pennsylvania as a Health and Physical Education
professor. Soon afterward, she became director of women’s
intramurals and in 1968 was appointed assistant chairperson of the
health and physical education department. In 1970 Ruth became
associate director of athletics. During her tenure (1970-1987) Title
IX was implemented to ensure women had the same collegiate athletic
opportunities as men. Ten women’s varsity sports were started
during her tenure at IUP, and her fight for women’s
athletics has been compared to the Wright Brothers’ bumpy beginnings
in aviation. Ruth was inducted into the Indiana County Sports Hall
of Fame, the Slippery Rock Hall of Fame, and was a charter inductee
to the IUP Sports Hall of Fame. A new sports facility at IUP was
named the Podbielski Softball Field. |
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