DENVER — The Sportswomen of Colorado (SWOC) is celebrating 50 years of promoting, honoring, and empowering girls and women in sports. · Founded in 1974 as a fundraiser for the YWCA, SWOC made history on April 20, 1975. Its inaugural women’s sports awards recognition event was the first in the entire country to recognize statewide achievement in female athletics by athletes, teams, coaches, and contributors.
"The women at the time looked around and said, 'Who's honoring women's sports? Women's sports should be honored, promoted! That's not happening.' And then they realized, if they didn't do it, who would, so they did," Advisory Board member Marcia Neville recalls.
SWOC was founded in 1975 by pioneers Joan Birkland, Dorothy Mauk, Joy Burns, and Jerry Cunningham. "Joanie" served as executive director for 40 years and is regarded as one of Colorado’s all-time best female athletes, winning state golf and tennis simultaneously -- two different years. In 1981, she was just the fourth woman inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Mauk, a sports journalist for the Denver Post in the mid-1960s, served as chair of the selection committee, scriptwriter, and communications manager for more than 30 years. Burns served as SWOC president for nearly 30 years. She was part owner of the Colorado Xplosion women’s professional basketball team and the only woman selected for the Metropolitan Football Stadium Board. She was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000. Cunningham, a YWCA board member, was an active volunteer in the Y, Junior League of Denver, and University of Denver Pioneer Sportswomen. Her leadership was instrumental when Sportswomen of Colorado transitioned to become its own non-profit.
Upwards of 40 honorees are celebrated at the organization's event each year, and one individual or team is named Colorado’s Sportswoman of the Year.
"We honor the best high school athletes, the best collegiate athletes, the best professional athletes and also the best masters athletes and we have some amazing masters athletes in the state of Colorado. So Mary Smith last year, I gave her a call and said, 'Hey Mary, you won an award (for Masters Track and Field),' and she said 'Hold on, hold on, I'm in the middle of a deadlift'', executive director Linda Lappe said, recalling one of her favorite award recipients.
Neville recalls a moment that the organization changed the life of an Olympic gold medalist.
"I love the fact that Missy Franklin (swimming) was honored as the Most Promising Athlete when she was just a middle school, I don't even know if she was a teenager yet," Neville said. "Does Sportswomen of Colorado make Missy Franklin a champion? Of course not. That was destined to happen. But what she has said is that being in that room, seeing the way that women promote each other and support each other, really stuck with her and kind of helped her as she came into her own to know that she too wanted to mentor and help and support other female athletes."
The 50th Anniversary Sportswomen of Colorado Awards Celebration is set for March 17, 2024 at the Hyatt Denver Tech Center. Visit www.SportswomenOfColorado.org for tickets or to livestream the event.