
Newest rotating exhibit at Museum features women in Virginia sports history
PORTSMOUTH, VA – The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum is celebrating Women’s History Month by featuring a new “Virginian’s in the Spotlight” rotating exhibit entitled “Women in Sports.” Guests of the museum will have the chance to see the exhibit now through April 28.
Women sports legends included in the exhibit are Donna Floyd Fales, Yogi Hightower-Boothe, Laura Mapp and Gracie Lee VanDyck. Fales, class of 1997 Inductee and tennis player, was the youngest player (15 years old) to win the Virginia State Women’s Singles Championship. As a 1962 graduate of the College of William and Mary, Fales was ranked in the top ten women in the U.S. six times from 1960-1966 and twice-ranked number 2 in doubles. Yogi Hightower-Boothe, class of 2001, became the first African-American to win the Honda Award in 1982, which recognizes the outstanding women’s athlete in the nation for her sport, which in her case was field hockey. In 37 years (1961-98) at Bridgewater College, Laura Mapp proved she would be one of the most successful women’s coaches in Virginia by accumulating 876 wins as head coach in basketball, field hockey, and tennis before being inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. From 1947 through 1987, Gracie Lee VanDyck coached basketball and softball at Churchland High School in Portsmouth, Portsmouth Catholic, and Chesapeake’s Western Branch High School where she compiled an astonishing 517-271-2 record. VanDyck, class of 2002, is recognized as a key figure in the rise to prominence of Virginia women’s athletics.
Artifacts from each inductee are featured in the exhibit, and visitors only have a limited timeframe to view the display cases. The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum’s next rotating exhibit will feature sports teams in Hampton Roads.
The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum is open daily during the winter and spring from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $7 per person, $6 military or senior citizen (age 65+) and free for members and children 2 or younger.
For more information, call (757) 393-8031 or visit our website at www.vshfm.com