Folstad Shares History of Women's Basketball

To WIN the Game is Great
To PLAY the game is greater
To LOVE the game is greatest

Colette Folstad spoke about her experiences as a player, coach
 and offical. During her school years at Ayr Public School,
she was part of a winning tradition that produced the longest
winning streak of any team in North Dakota: 109 games
without a loss. From 1938-1947 Ayr won 7 out of 9 state championships. They played 197 games in 10 years and won 192. All of these games were six player half court style.

Beginning in 1973, girls were allowed to play full-court, five player basketbal rules, the same set as used by the boyes. No state tournaments for girls were held until 1974 when the ND High School Activities Association sanctioned both Class A and Class B state tournaments for girls.

Folstad played intramural basketball while attending NDSU and pushed to get women's basketball recognized as a college sport. She coached and officiated at the college and high
school level. West Fargo Packers girls' teams had successful
seasons under her tutelage.





Folstad holds the shirt she wore as an Ayr player.  During her presentation she showed many styles the girls wore as players in high school and college.