TERRE HAUTE —
Among the sports-related goals for Keely Davis are getting an education, preferably with some scholarship help; winning a state championship; and going on to play professional basketball.
When she’s 6-foot-4.
Genetics might suggest that final goal is a little too ambitious — although, her mother points out, Keely has big feet for a 9-year old.
Genetics — ancestry is probably a better word in this case — also guarantees that she’ll get every chance to pursue her dreams, however, no matter how tall she gets. Title IX, celebrating its 40th birthday this year, was created with girls like Keely and her 14-year-old sister Riley Davis in mind.
Almost specifically so.
I I I
Riley Davis plays volleyball, basketball and softball, and plans to continue at least the first two of those sports when she enters high school in a couple of months.
Keely plays the same three — volleyball is her favorite right now, she says — and also is involved in jazz dance.
As busy as they are, neither is any more involved than their mother — the former Lisa Weatherman — was at Franklin High School a couple of decades ago, when she played volleyball, basketball and ran track for school teams and also participated in golf, tennis and swimming.
“Mom wanted me to find my niche,” Lisa said recently about her school athletic pursuits, and here’s the crux of our story: Lisa, Riley and Keely all played or play because they love to do so, but they also do because their late mother/grandmother couldn’t — even though Cheryl Endicott was arguably the best shooter of a basketball in St. Bernice approximately 50 years ago, and inarguably the neighborhood marbles champion.
But there were no teams for Cheryl Endicott to play on in high school, even though many of the neighborhood games were at her house — she and her sister Soni had pooled birthday money to buy the goal that hung on a back-yard walnut tree — and even though the halftime entertainment at many of the Hornets’ basketball games was a shooting exhibition by Cheryl in her cheerleading uniform.
She was at Indiana State before she got to be on a basketball team with matching uniforms, and Cheryl and her friends vowed at that time to promote sports for girls and women whenever they could.
Lisa still remembers the look of pride on her mother’s face when the two of them attended Indiana’s first girls high school state basketball finals in 1976. She also remembers how angry her mother became after being asked to start volleyball and girls basketball programs at Franklin, because the principal implied Cheryl’s teams wouldn’t have to work as hard or practice as often as the boys teams did. Two stints as Indiana All-Star coach (1979 and 1982) followed.
Title IX was already a law by that point, so Cheryl Endicott — Cheryl Weatherman by that time — couldn’t take credit for it. Few have celebrated it more, however, than she and her offspring have.
I I I
“My grandma inspired me to do all four of these,” Keely answered recently when asked about her volleyball, basketball, softball and dance participation. “It’s something you can do and have fun with.”
“I’d be really bored [without sports],” said Riley, adding she was participating in sports “as soon as I could walk.”
The Davis family isn’t just about girls sports either. Lee Davis, the older brother of Riley and Keely, is an all-state candidate at linebacker as he prepares for his senior year at Terre Haute North — Lisa’s husband, Clint Davis, played that position at Indiana State — and his sisters’ first exposures to sports were watching him (very literally, in Keely’s case; she attended one of Lee’s baseball games when she was two days old).
And there is a family rule, Lisa points out.
“If you watch brother play, he has to watch you,” Lisa said.
No problem, Lee said.
“Ever since they were old enough to shoot a basketball, they were always out [doing so] in the driveway,” Lee said of his younger sisters. “Mom and Grandma were always coaching them up on something.
“I’ve probably been to every one of their games, and they’ve been to all of my football games,” he added. “We had a [football] game last fall that was cold and rainy; Mom bailed, but [Riley] was there to the end. I wouldn’t miss her games for the world, and she wouldn’t miss mine.”
If there were no sports for girls?
“I’d be really upset,” said Keely. “I’ve always wanted to play sports, and it’s always been a great experience. I like to compete, and I like to win.”
“[Sports have been] a big part of my life,” said Riley, also a veteran of offseason travel teams coached by her mother and her grandmother. “Playing with other people [around the state and around the country] makes you better … I’ve made many friends, I got to travel … a lot of memories. [My grandmother] made it possible.”
“I don’t know where I’d be [without sports],” said Lisa. “[Sports] gave me confidence, leadership skills … it’s been my life.”
Mother/grandmother knew best, all three agree. “She’d have given her right arm to be able to play,” Lisa said of her mother.
Sports
Title IX: Youth today seeing benefits of past legislation
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Ethan Page is the race director for the Terre Haute Triathlon.
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TILL IT'S OVER: Terre Haute Triathlon's new race director seeks more events for his hometown
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A former Terre Haute North track and cross country standout, Ethan Page is the race director as the race falls under the reign of Page’s new company, Crossroads Events. -
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The second game, which started after Senior Night festivities between games, ended past the Tribune-Star deadline. -
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The Patriots knew it was coming, but they couldn’t do anything to stop it. -
Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
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Indiana State women add five transfers, including experienced D-I point guard
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PREP ROUNDUP: North slips past Northview in eight-inning baseball game
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TILL IT'S OVER: Terre Haute Triathlon's new race director seeks more events for his hometown
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Indiana State baseball series canceled
Heavy rain from Thursday through Saturday has forced Indiana State and Tennessee Martin to cancel their three-game weekend baseball series in northwest Tennessee.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman baseball to play DePauw on Thursday after Tuesday's rain
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The start time remains 7 p.m. for the single nine-inning game that was originally scheduled for today. Tuesday’s scheduled Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Anderson was moved to Sunday because of rain. -
Vigo County Youth Soccer Association to host Indiana Soccer Cup Games
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METRO ROUNDUP: North, South well-represented on All-Star teams
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Wabash baseball tops Rose-Hulman
Wabash College scored two runs in the third inning and two in the fifth to top Rose-Hulman 4-1 in non-conference baseball Wednesday afternoon.
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Indiana State baseball series canceled
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Olds pitches South to share of MIC baseball title
Friday night, winning the second game 5-0 and earning a share of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title.
Damon Olds was dominant on the mound for the Braves, striking out 14 and walking just one while pitching a three-hit shutout. - South wins first half of doubleheader against Lawrence North
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Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ISU couldn’t do it. -
Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
First came the public announcement that Bob Warn Field would host the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Later, Sean Manaea’s availability to pitch ISU’s series opener against Bradley was in doubt. -
Indiana State women add five transfers, including experienced D-I point guard
Indiana State coach Teri Moren believes the addition of five more newcomers to the program — in addition to the five who had already joined the program earlier this calendar year — will provide her coaching staff the athleticism and depth it needs to play a successful, up-tempo brand of basketball next season.
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Metro roundup: Woods softball takes seventh in national tournament
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Metro Roundup: Indiana State’s Shakir Bell on Performance Awards watch list
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Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
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Ethan Page is the race director for the Terre Haute Triathlon.
-
TILL IT'S OVER: Terre Haute Triathlon's new race director seeks more events for his hometown
Today is the day for the Thunder in the Valley, and the Terre Haute Triathlon is under new leadership in 2013, the 28th year for the event at Hawthorn Park.
A former Terre Haute North track and cross country standout, Ethan Page is the race director as the race falls under the reign of Page’s new company, Crossroads Events. - TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
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TILL IT'S OVER: Terre Haute Triathlon's new race director seeks more events for his hometown
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Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Of the 10 players selected, five ended up either starting or seeing extensive playing time (quarterback Andrew Luck, tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton and running back Vick Ballard) during the Colts’ 11-5 season.
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Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
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Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
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TRACKSIDE: Rain still a pain for Wabash Valley racing organizers
Soggy weather conditions, which have rightfully drawn the ire of Wabash Valley race fans and crews in recent days, continue to plague promoters where it hurts the most — their pocketbooks.
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TRACKSIDE: Rain still a pain for Wabash Valley racing organizers





