Maple Hill High School 1970 ...The Great Soccer Challenge

As I look out over many a playing field the single biggest change since my playing days is simply the fact that females so often dominate the softball and soccer fields of today. It was of course not always so....there was a time when women 's sports were down the list......Men's basketball , soccer baseball , football followed by anything men wanted to do was the norm. The ladies had field hockey within the school.....but little of that.
On a recent trip I stopped by MHHS. As I walked the track my mind traveled back to the school back then. It has not changed that much. The field hockey goals are gone , the ball diamond looks slightly overgrown. The soccer field looks much the same , of course there is now a track around the edge. There was in the senior class a movement to give women a more prominate role in activities. A great plot was hatched in the sports area. The senior girls vs the senior boys in a Thursday afternoon game with the school invited. After much cajoling the match was set. The mens captain was one Ronald P. Kunicki.......womens captain Elizabeth Eckert who's father at the time was on the school board , which was a great help in the OK being given for this game. I was the goalie.
Much of the school turned out.....classes let out early.....a fairly good size event for that time. I wish I could tell you a great sports upset story but alas men 8 women 0. They held us well into the second quarter even a couple of shots on goal but eventually the men won.
The point was however made that spring afternoon. Sports on the High School and College level were soon about to change. All of my three daughters played soccer in High School. School budgets formed along new laws and guidelines. But there was that moment when many yrs ago a game was played to send a signal that things would not stay the same for much longer.