P. O. Box 1411 Rockdale, TX 76567
History
Why we started LOB, Inc.
The Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) was inducted into the WBHOF as "Trailblazers of the Game" in 2018. While attending this event it became clear that the story of this group of talented, ground breaking women had not fully been told. Those who played in the WBL can lay claim to having their hand prints all over the game of women's basketball in the last forty years, yet few really know about the amazing connection that exists between the league and the advancement of the game on every level.
Legends of the Ball, Inc. is committed to getting the facts and history straight. There are many ways to tell a story and record history but none more valuable than the version that can be told by those who lived it. We stand united with the vision of bringing this league out of the shadows, ensuring that the players from the WBL take their rightful place in the history of women's basketball and are recognized for their social and political impact that transcended sports. Our mantra, "Passing it on...Paying it forward" truly epitomizes the contributions of the players, coaches, team personnel, media, and fans of the first women's professional basketball league. This is ... "The WBL EFFECT".
SPOTLIGHT ON A LEGEND
PATRICIA ROBERTS
Patricia “Trish” Roberts is one of the most decorated and influential players of her era (or any era). That influence continued as a coach for twenty- six years at the collegiate and professional levels.
Her history is one of inspiration not only for the women at the University of Tennessee, but for this generation of young student athletes who can look at her career and know that this level of excellence exists among you. Along with her fellow WBL pioneers and Legends of the Ball, Inc. board members, Trish will kick off our collaboration with WOMEN X to shine a spotlight on a generation of trailblazers whose accomplishments transcend sports.
Trish is a four- time WBHOF inductee … as an individual player, and three times as a Trailblazer of the Game. She is a member of the 1976 Olympic Team Trailblazers, the WBL Trailblazers, and the AIAW Trailblazers. She is synonymous with “firsts” as are most of her contemporaries. Trish broke gender and racial barriers as well. She was the first black women’s head basketball coach at three Division I Institutions … the University of Maine, the University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University. She was also the first head coach of the Atlanta Glory of the ABL. As we celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of Title IX, it will become evident that these women broke down political, social, and athletic barriers that paved the way for women in sports as we see it today.
Trish has a unique connection to the legendary Tennessee coach, Pat Summitt. As we approach the fifth anniversary of her death, we honor her memory and her many contributions in and outside of sports. Trish and Pat (along with LOB, Inc. advisory board member Ann Meyers Drysdale) were teammates on the inaugural 1976 U.S. Olympic team. Their paths would connect for life after Trish went on to play for a young coach just starting out at the University of Tennessee becoming her first African American player, her first All-American, and leading her to her first final four (AIAW). She and Pat jumpstarted a tradition of excellence that defined women’s basketball from that time on.
Trish went on to become an original member of the WBL (Women’s Basketball League) which was the first viable women’s professional basketball league in the United States. She is one of only thirty women to play all three years in the league playing for the Minnesota Fillies and St. Louis Streak and was an All-Pro selection with the Streak.
Trish is now a board member of Legends of the Ball, Inc. The group was inspired to tell the story of the WBL after induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. Their mission is to promote the historic and social relevance of the league (WBL) to inspire future generations to break through barriers, realize their potential, and become leaders for positive change. In short, they are still passing it on and paying it forward.
Please join us every Wednesday for a “spotlight on a pioneer” as we celebrate the collaboration of WOMEN X and LOB, Inc., women in sports, and the upcoming anniversary of Title IX.
