Abstract:
The Ball State University Women's Basketball program is known as one of the premier division one basketball programs in the state of Indiana. The program itself has experienced great success since its inaugural season in 1974. However, in collegiate sports it is growing increasingly rare that personal relationships and individual growth take precedence over physical performance on the playing field. It is now becoming a trend in a majority of programs for basketball to be treated as a business and for personal relationships to fall by the wayside. The Ball State University Women's Basketball program however, is one of the few exceptions to this trend. It is the relationships that myself and others have formed by being involved with this program that have caused us to grow and have shaped us into the individuals that we are today. I will provide a brief history of the Ball State Women's Basketball program through a statistical analysis and then use responses gathered from personal interviews along with my own individual experiences to put forth a more personal perspective on the history of the program. It is my hope that these stories and experiences will provide proof that the value of the program extends far beyond the numbers shown on the scoreboard at the end of regulation.
