Title IX Milestones: Colorado's "Maw" Wilson, Boys Hoops Pioneer
By NFHS on August 10, 2021 Title IX Print
Upon settling in La Jara, Colorado, in 1927, Nora “Maw” Wilson translated her interest in sports into a role as scorekeeper at La Jara High School.
Lacking coaches during World War II, La Jara hired her as its boys basketball coach. This feat made Wilson the first recorded female coach of a boys team.
At one time, Wilson worked with as many as 50 boys who looked to join the team, according to an issue of the “Panorama.” The publication added that to ensure her team’s availability, Wilson “furnished transportation for the boys, once taking them to Salida by truck.”
Despite never receiving payment for her coaching duties, Wilson concluded the seasons she coached with a party in which she arranged and paid for. To her, the only pay necessary was “the love and respect of ‘her’ boys.”
Her grandson, Curt Wilson, is now the superintendent of La Jara’s North Conejos School District. #TitleIXat50
