A Coach Comes Back
WHEN Aggie Kurtz arrived at Dartmouth back in 1972, the women's athletic program was nonexistent. "They said do something and I did," said the coach and assistant athletic director. Kurtz, who was hired to coach field hockey, squash, and lacrosse, sent questionnaires to every student on campus to see what the 320 women wanted in athletics. She hired a student to.coach the basketball team and lined up a Norwich resident to coach the tennis team. The women's ski team was handled out of the Dartmouth Outing Club. Twenty-one women turned out for the field hockey team, almost enough for an intra-squad scrimmage. "Five beginners played in the first field hockey game they ever saw," recalled Kurtz. There was one talented squash player, but the rest were novices. Of the 14 players on the lacrosse team, only nine had prior experience. Women's sports were financed through the physical education department's budget and cost, not including salaries, about $2,500.
Things are different today. Dartmouth now fields 12 varsity women's sports teams and has four club teams. There are six fulltime coaches, three part-time coaches, and a women's trainer on the staff. This year's budget will be about $165,000. And Dartmouth teams are starting to have an impact in league, regional, and national competition. Last October, the tennis team won the New England championship for the second year in a row and was fourth in the small college nationals. The field hockey team was second in the East last fall (but was beaten in the quarterfinals of the nationals). The basketball team won two tournaments and would have had a solid shot at the Ivy League title if its key player had not been injured. The squash team had a member who was ranked tenth nationally. Ice hockey and gymnastic squads finished third in the Ivy League, and the swim team was fifth in league competition. The ski team finished third in the. AIAW Championships at Marquette, Michigan.
At the end of the current school year, Kurtz will step down as assistant athletic director but will continue as the Green's lacrosse and squash coach. "The administration grew so much that I dropped one sport," said the Smith College graduate. "Now I'm dropping administration. I want to be able to spend more time coaching. Serving as a coach and an administrator was a compromise to both positions; it was difficult to do both jobs well. I decided I had to do one or the other. The reason I decided to stay in coaching is that I love it and want to do it as long as I can. I feel this will allow the College to get someone who can devote full time to women's athletics."
About 330 women of the 1,150 undergraduates are involved in sports programs. Competition to make each team is much greater now, and there are very few spots for the raw beginner. "I think Dartmouth has done a lot and has come a long way in a short time," Kurtz said. "I also hope there will be changes in the budget so that Dartmouth women will be able to feel equal with the men. The budget hasn't grown quite as fast as the women's sports program. I'm optimistic that next year's budget will see women's athletics treated equally with the men's.
