Lolly Forseth was the first female activities director in South Dakota. She was also the first female to be inducted into the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1989. She won eleven state gymnastics titles in 19-years as a head coach in Sioux Falls - seven at Lincoln and four at Washington. Forseth also spent 20-years as a gymnastics judge in South Dakota, giving her four decades with the sport.
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Our guests today, involved with over 40 years of teaching and coaching and being an administrator, plus I don't know anybody else, who's in seven hall of fames, seven. No organized sports for her, when she was in high school. Graduate of Canton High School, South Dakota. Graduate of SDSU. She became a teacher and a coach at Sioux Falls, Lincoln. And only one year of competitive gymnastics at SDSU. But, at 21, in her first year as a high school teacher, she was the boys and girls gymnastics coach at Lincoln. Coached gymnastics for 19 years and became the Athletic Director at Lincoln as well. Long-time coach, administrator, and now retired Lolly Forseth of Sioux Falls joins us on In Play. Lolly, thanks for the time today.
Here's one, girls' athletics in the '60s at Canton. What was it like?
There were no athletics in Canton, or I don't think, there was really any athletic program in any high school. I was in Canton High School, I graduated in 1965. And what we did have was I guess, you would call them play days. What we would call them at Canton any way. At the end of each school year, you would have organized some track event out in the back of the school and everybody could sign up for so many events and do that, but it was just for fun. We had some intermural sports, that was basketball and we'd go in the gym and shoot some baskets. And of course, we only lived about nine miles from the Iowa border. And we always heard so much about Iowa basketball and that's when they were playing the six-person basketball.
Three forwards, three guards. But, at least, it was competition. It was something we heard about. But, other than that, we just had some play days. We really didn't know what we were missing out on, because when you've never done it, you don't know what you've missed. So, it was just, something that you wanted to do. I was fortunate, I grew up in a family that centered their whole life around athletics. And my father was a phenomenal athlete in high school himself. He came out of Montana and my brother was a great athlete. And so, I knew at an early age, I always wanted to be a part of athletics somehow. So, my true dream was to become a physical education teacher and a coach. And I started from there and got involved with the athletics at South Dakota State. But, that's about my background in high school. There wasn't much other than dreaming.
Did you play football, or basketball with the boys? With your brother, as a kid?
Oh, no. I played basketball with the boys in the backyard. My dad always built a cement slab and we put a basketball hoop up and I'd shoot around with the boys out in the backyard all the time, until they'd get tired of me and kick me out.
Your first taste though, of gymnastics, was at SDSU. Why gymnastics?
Well, I've always had a fine arts background. I did have some private dance lessons before I went to college. And so, I got involved in the fine arts in the dance program and the gymnastics. And I also had done some tumbling in high school. And that was when we talked to a first-year teacher, his name was Joe McMackin. He made out of college and he [inaudible 00:04:42] teacher at Canton. And he of course, was coaching all of the boys sports, but he was kind enough to start a tumbling team. So, with him being in attendance with us, we started about a 10 person tumbling team and did some pretty basic tumbling and mostly pyramids and diving and stuff I'd never encouraged my kids to do now, but it was fun. So, played around with that. So, when I went to college, naturally gymnastics was the field I was interested in.
And you did it for one year, right? At SDSU.
Yeah, I did it for one year and I did dance all four years. But, I was very involved in cheerleading and that had a lot of gymnastics to it, at the level at SDSU. And so, there were only eight cheerleaders at SDSU. So, we cheered for all football and all basketball, and it was a great experience. But, with doing that, I couldn't do both. And I loved the opportunities of Jim Marking was our basketball coach. And he had the cheerleaders travel to all of the, out-of-state games and everywhere we went and I had a lot travel experiences that I had never had the opportunity before. So, I guess that was a choice I did. I don't regret it. I had the three years of cheerleading and a lot of gymnastics experience with that, and a lot of dance.
Were you good at gymnastics? Did you think you were okay?
No, I was just average. I was not great. If, I was great, I probably would have been on the team full time. But, again, the season, there weren't that many meets. But, no, I will not say, I was a great gymnast. By any means, but I loved the sport and I loved the discipline it took. So, it was just ingrained in my brain. I just loved it.
It was 1969, you graduate from SDSU. How did you convince Sioux Falls Lincoln to hire you as a teacher and to be the boys and girls gymnastics coach?
Well, Pete Torino was our gymnastics coach at SDSU. And even though I only competed one year, he was very supportive of me and how motivated I was and my dance instructor, Marilyn Richardson also. And both of them spoke quite highly of me, and that was very nice. And in fact, I didn't even know that the Sioux Falls School District had contacted SDSU and had asked for a name of someone that could come and become their gymnastics coach at Lincoln.
At 21 years old?
Yeah, their coach was moving out of state. And the gymnastics program was quite large there, at the time, at Lincoln. And so, they had asked Pete Torino and he said, "Well, first of all, I think the best thing going for me was, I think I was the only one graduating with any gymnastics background.
But, secondly, he also knew that whatever I decided to do, I would work very hard at. So, actually SDSU contacted me and asked if I would interview for the position. So, I interviewed for the job and ended, I don't know, stuff like that happens nowadays, but ended up the interview. And it was before I had even student-taught yet. And they said, "Once you have graduated, we're going to sign an intent to sign, a contract once you graduate. So, that's what happened. Then, I went and student taught, I requested SDSU, if I could go out to Rapid City to do my student teaching. Because, they, at that time had one of the strongest gymnastics programs in the state. And I wanted to go out there real bad. And that was frowned upon, because they had never sent a student teacher out to Rapid City before.
And I just was heartbroken. And Jim Marking, jumped on the bandwagon for me and he said, "Listen, folks." He said, "I go out there frequently to recruit basketball players. I will go out and do her evaluations as she's student-teaching out there. So, I guess there's, I forgot about all that stuff. But, yes, that's how that worked. And I was able to go out. I went out there and student-taught. Stayed with the fellow cheerleaders' family when I student-taught, and then came back and graduated June 1st, got married June 21st and started teaching that August.
What did you teach, by the way?
Physical education out there. And I did nine weeks in the elementary, then into the middle school at South Junior High, and then Central High School when it was just one high school.
So, 19 years eventually as a gymnastics coach at Lincoln and at Sioux Falls, Washington. Seven state titles at Lincoln. And you had four titles at Washington. With little background in gymnastics, how did you do it? How come you were so successful?
Well, I knew the skills, didn't mean I could do them, but I knew the skills. And I spent a lot of time in books, at night. And especially, with boys, because when I started, I was also the head boys coach and our boys season was larger than our girls season. We had more meets for boys, than girls. And, in a lot of events, the bars and on the high bar, the parallel bars, you can relate a lot of the kipping moves and things like that. But, the rings, that was a whole other thing. So, yeah, I was spending a lot of time reading and studying and staying up late.
Was there a gymnastics coaching mentor that you talked with a lot, as you were a coach? Whether, it was the first year, or your last year of gymnastics?
No. Well, Pete Torino, I would. And Chris Hammers was over at Washington High and I did talk to him quite a bit. But, yeah, there weren't a lot of people to visit with and I would call the people out at Rapid that I worked with. But, it was by trial and error and just sheer motivation.
Did you treat the boys different, than the girls, or the girls different than the boys when it came to gymnastics and motivation?
No, no, I had no assistance. I had 45 boys and 50 girls. I had almost a hundred kids and all those events and I was by myself. And so, maybe that's what helped me, but it was an extremely disciplined program, because it had to be, or otherwise, I would have had bodies flying off the walls.
Weren't you also the cheerleader coach too?
Seven cheer squad.
Oh my goodness, so you were spread pretty thin there Lolly.
Yeah. Yeah, and taught full-time. But, you didn't think much about it. You just did it.
Three years into being a teacher and a coach at Lincoln, President Nixon signed the Title IX declaration, guaranteeing gender equity and equal access for women. What debate was going on about Title IX before Nixon even signed it?
I have to be honest with you. I hadn't really heard that much about Title IX. Nobody really talked about it, until it was actually enacted. And I suppose, I read some things about it, but not a lot of talk. But, it's interesting that we're talking about Title IX, because this year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX and people are talking about it again, because of the 50 years. And I just know that to me, it was just exciting, because I was on that ground level as a pioneer of something that I knew was going to be so much change for women in athletics. And it was just a quiet revolution taking place. The once predominantly, male environment in gymnasiums, started to become invaded with females. And the excitement was just great. And you weren't expecting just everything to happen overnight. I remember just being elated over small things, like getting some quality time on a main floor.
What was the transition like? How long did it take for that transition to... Maybe, like it is today?
Well, prior to Title IX, my first year in '70, '71, '72, during those first three years, I remember making plenty of phone calls to [Pere 00:14:42], not requesting so much equality in the gymnasiums, but equality in competitions. Our girls wanted to belong to a conference. They wanted to have qualifying tournaments, being able to go to a state tournament. And that was the thing I remember, I first really worked for, was trying to become sanctioned in the state. Once we became sanctioned, then you start working with your individual schools, trying to make things equal, in locker room space and having equal time on floors and uniform. We never had a warm-up uniform for years. We wore the girls track sweats that they worked out in, for our warm ups- So, that's basically what it was. We just wanted to be a part of a conference, or a region. So, that's what I remember, we first worked on.
Some folks may not understand what Title IX is all about. Title IX, they're trying to get the same number of female athletes, as male athletes in high school and in college. And it's a struggle. Football, is the big sport that shifts that a little bit. If you could change, or add one thing about Title IX, what would it be?
It was all such a blessing for us. Everything that it brought forth for us, that I never thought anything was bad about it. I can't think of anything I would change. Yes, I know that the numbers was a big thing and we always were looking at numbers and of course, once you got into adding different... There's a lot of sports, now with cheer, for example, the number of girls in cheer, competitive, or sideline- The numbers just build and all of that. But, back in the day, you remember... What I remember is not the numbers so much, but that if there were seven boys' sports, and then there had to be seven girls sports. So, the number of sports that were offered, and I don't remember talking too much about the number of kids, but that is truly one of the components of it.
But, we had to have the same number of programs. I remember having to, in our physical education classes, we were given surveys. National surveys came out on Title IX, that we had to give to our students in class, that asked, "Do you feel in your school, that girls are getting equal time on the gym floor? Are getting equal opportunities in so many different things." And these surveys had to be filled out and mailed back in. [crosstalk 00:17:47]. So, I remember it was very pointed. We definitely had to be monitored and fill that out. And then, it was all monitored in each school. Not only did they administration fill out forms, but the students were asked their opinions and filled out forms on it. So, it was pretty detailed at the beginning.
We're talking to Lolly Forseth of Sioux Falls, over 40 years involved with gymnastics and administration in South Dakota. When the job of athletic director became available in 1996 at Lincoln, there were no female athletic directors in South Dakota. How did you convince the folks at Lincoln that you were the person for the job?
That basically came as a surprise also. I was out at Wyoming in the Summer of '95, or '94. I was speaking at a coach's clinic and I got a phone call from Mark Miley, and he just presented it to me. He said, "We talked to you four years earlier about becoming an athletic director and you turned us down, because you weren't ready to quit coaching. And so, we're presenting this with you now. And we'd like to know if you are interested in the athletic director job at Lincoln High School?" And I said, "Well, my husband's back in Sioux Falls. I think that's something that I need to talk to him about too." He says, "Well, when are you getting back?" I said, "Well, we're leaving tomorrow, which was Saturday. And it was about 11 hour drive from Laramie." And he said, "Sunday morning, I'll come over to your house. We'll talk about it."
So, what were you thinking on the way back from Laramie?
Oh, you know what? A hundred things went through my mind. And a lot of it, is self doubt. Sometimes, you think, "Well, I knew I would be the first full time female athletic director in the state and in one of the largest high schools in the state." And I thought, "Are the men going to receive me as an equal? Or, believe in the fact that I can help them with their athletic program that they're coaching? If I have the knowledge, or the ability." And so, I have those doubts, "Is that going to be a large part of the job?" Because, I knew I could do the work, work never scared me. I like to work and I wasn't afraid of learning the administrative side of things. So, I got home, the first thing my husband said was, "Lolly, you've always loved a challenge." And he says, "I think it's time, you have a new challenge." So, I guess that's what did it, and I accepted. And that started the 11 year administrative career.
The athletic director job today in South Dakota High Schools, has it changed in any way since you were the AD at Lincoln?
I've been out for quite some time. It's hard for me to answer that. I just know that it was very challenging. It was also very rewarding. I always liked to think of it, that I used to be a coach of athletes. And I then felt like I am now the coach of coaches.
And I'll just try to motivate them in the same manner that I did, the athletes I had the privilege of working with. And so, that's basically how I started it. I probably ran a pretty strict program and disciplined program, I guess I figured that out when they started calling me the general.
I tried to treat everybody the same. I only had one experience that blew me away in my first year. I had an athletic director from out of state call, and wanted to schedule a basketball game. And I said my name and I said athletic director, and he said, "Oh no, ma'am, I don't want to talk to an assistant. I would like to speak to the athletic director." And I said, "Sir, you're talking to the athletic director." "You don't understand, I don't need his assistant, or secretary. I need the athletic director." And I just wanted to hang up.
Did you schedule it?
I think I did, but I don't quite remember. I just remember it just threw me for a loop, because he didn't want to believe it, but it was a fun experience. I think the one thing that remains the same for sure, are the hours. I don't know if people really understand the hours an athletic director, or an athletic administrator puts in. Because, by day you do an administrative job. Especially, after the first four years, we became Principal Athletic Directors.
So, by day you were in the main office and you'd get discipline and you're scheduling. And so, you did one job by day by night at three o'clock, it's starting the second job. Because, it was nothing to have three, four, five activities going on in our building on one night. And so, as an activities director, you just don't have... I think when I left, I had 183 teams and clubs and we were expected to represent all of them and be at all of them. And so I, it was nothing to put in a 70 hour week.
I don't think that's changed a lot. That's the one thing that's stayed. And you have to realize, well, basketball, you have four teams, or you actually have five, because you got your varsity, your JV, your sophomore and your ninth grade, A and B.
And same way with girls basketball, boys basketball, football, you've got all your levels. You've got all your levels and all your sports. And now, there's a ton of sports. There's even more from when I left. Plus you have a 400 member band, you have your choral, you have your debate, your drama, you're running all of those things. And then, our part at Lincoln, if I would have a basketball, or volleyball match going on in the gym at Lincoln, and I'd have to run out to how it would feel for a sophomore football game, because we didn't have games on our field.
And there might be an orchestra concert going on too at the same time.
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So, you were running in circles and of course, I like a little chaos, so that didn't bother me so much, but it just was a lot of hours. I know, I was tired a lot,
You became the athletic director at Sioux Falls Roosevelt for one year- 2005. After being in Lincoln for so long, what was it like being the rough rider AD, when they would play at Lincoln? You know these sports.
Parents are parents. So, it's not a lot of difference. And you're basically working. I felt that it was key for me right away to try to learn who my key parents were for help, because I came in, in October and you need help when you're running concessions and you know what? Your booster clubs are vital to your program. So, I needed to get to know these people and they were very welcoming. So, it was really nice. I really enjoyed the fact that I had them spent time, as either a teacher, or an administrator in all three high schools then.
So, that was fun. And kids are kids, they're never different. The kids are wonderful to work with. And it's just, everyone says, "Well, what are the kids like at that school?" I don't know. I never noticed a big difference. It's all on how you approach it, I think.
You're in seven hall of fames, including the Gymnastics Coaches Hall of Fame, South Dakota High School Coaches Hall of Fame, the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. You're in the Washington High School Hall of Fame. And of course, the Lincoln High School Hall of Fame. What does that mean to you, Lolly?
Well, it's not done by yourself, that's for sure. You build programs with the athletes you're working with and with the assistants you have and I'm humbled by it. It's the most unbelievable... I don't know, I can't express my gratitude for being honored like that. I'm just very humbled by it, because you don't do it yourself. You know that. You don't do it yourself. Your kids are a large part of it, and your assistants. And yeah, I guess, it was a thrill to be the first woman ever inducted into the South Dakota Coaches Hall of Fame. And I liked the fact that as a woman, I always tried to fight for a lot of things. And so, that meant a lot to be the first woman.
There are 29 teams in South Dakota High School Gymnastics. What's the future hold for gymnastics here in this State?
I often wondered, I thought, "Oh, are we going to be able to hold on? Are we going to be able to hold on to our program?" And because, people are always saying, "Oh, gymnastics is going to die." But, I haven't looked at the numbers for the last couple of years. I did follow it for several years after I got out. But, the number of schools never really dropped, never really dropped. And in fact, this year now we've added Harrisburg, this past year, Harrisburg, and I don't know, I think, we've added some schools.
Jefferson? Throw them in there too, for this year.
Jefferson will be, it hasn't died and there's still interest there. And we have huge number of young people that are doing gymnastics year round now. And so, when you have that interest where they're working year round, I don't see where it's going to affect the high school program as far as kids dropping out. Now, you will have a few kids that are doing year-round gymnastics, in your private clubs and they're of a caliber of a level 10, that they may just choose to stay in their club sport year round, which is fine. But, you have a large number of kids that do it for the interest of staying in shape and learning a few new moves off season, that are trying to prepare just like any kid going to a basketball camp, or a football camp. They're going to keep their body in shape for the upcoming season. So, I don't know. I just think that we're on pretty solid ground yet.
You're a coach of athletes and you've been a coach of coaches. What challenges are out there for today's college graduate, who also wants to teach and coach and do it for a long time?
Well, it would be administrators' dream to find that individual that will come in and do it for the long-term. And I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of times, there's a lot of people that get into coaching and they do it for 10, 15 years. And they've found some greener grass somewhere. I think that's been a real problem, keeping continuity. My era, when you sign on to be a teacher and a coach, it wasn't just me, almost all my peers did do the long haul. The Lyle Pearsons and the Jerry Millers and the Virg Polacks. And I could name, the Max Hawks, that went into the field and were going to be the best they could be, until the end of their career. And they never thought of doing anything else. And I don't know why, we will have some that will do that, but it's not going to be the numbers that used to be.
If you have a passion for what you're doing, and you have the support to do it, you can do anything.
That's absolutely right. And I think it's really important that you have mentors that help you build that passion. Right now, it's hard. Early in coaching, I was so passionate about it. And I became passionate about professional organization, because I felt that was vital in what we did. So, I became very involved in the South Dakota High School Coaches Association. And there were very few women in the '70s that took any leadership roles in that organization. Max Hawk, for some reason, pulled me aside and said, "I have some things that I want you to take on." And he asked me to represent women's sports, not only on the local and the state side, but on the national level. And he was a huge mentor for me and through him, a lot of other mentors that spent their life educating other coaches on coaching.
Where you came to the Summer clinics and they were three days long and you worked on things together and you became a big family and that just doesn't happen anymore. And I understand why. I understand why, because now in order for a team to be very competitive, the kids have to excel in their sport. So, they go to sport specific clinics.
And when they go to sport specific clinics, that's where their coaches go. And I understand that, to stay competitive, I'd probably be doing the same thing. In my day, when we started building all this, you didn't have sports specific camps. And there were very few, you might have a basketball one here, but there were few. All the coaches went to South Dakota High School Coaches Association Clinic for three days up in Aberdeen.
And it was in Brookings before that. And you learn so much, but you bonded. And you talked about... I remember being a young coach and being able to say, "What would you do in this situation? And I have so many kids at this event and I can't get through them. How do you get more kids through on balance beam practice/ blah, blah, blah." You just brainstorm and you've mentored each other. And it's just a different time now. And I understand what they're doing now. It's just different.
When's the last time you were at Lincoln High School and went over and looked at the championship trophies of gymnastics from the time that you were there? Have you done it recently?
No, no, no. When my husband passed away, he was such a supporter of Lincoln. And they always said, if you cut him, he'd bleed red, white, and blue. He never missed a game I was at, or an event, even as an AD. If I was working it, he was there. And When he passed away, all of the memorials that came in, we added on to that beautiful trophy case over there now, and it says, "In memory of Dale Forseth." So, you talk about that trophy case, it almost brings tears to my eyes. But, I haven't looked at my trophies, but I do look for his name plaque, and you go up the stairs and there's a big sign that says, "Make it happen today. In memory of Dale Forseth." Because, he used to put stickers on my mirror in the morning, if I was having a down week with the team, or something, he'd say, "Just make it happen today." So, good memory.
