Top men`s collegiate basketball stars around the country dream of achieving fame and fortune in the National Basketball Association.
For women players, however, there is no pot of gold-only a dead end.
A stable professional basketball league for women does not exist in the United States. As a result, college ball is the pinnacle of their sport, not a springboard to it. For even the most talented woman player, staying involved in competitive basketball in this country means either becoming a coach or a season ticket holder.
That`s why the Chicago Challengers were created in 1986 by Frank Kaminsky, an account executive with Philip Morris Cos. Inc. and member of a basketball team sponsored by Marathon Oil Co. Seven of the 10 Challengers are from the Chicago area, and all of them have played in Division I-for major colleges. They range in age from 24 to 30 and play exhibition games against Division I women`s teams throughout the Midwest.
The Challengers are touring Finland and Sweden, where they are playing eight games in nine days against national teams and club teams. The trip is sponsored partially by the Mayor`s Office of Special Events and American Airlines. The team raised $3,000 for the trip through a fundraising event; the remaining expenses-$300 to $500 per person-will be paid by individual team members.
For these women the competitive fires that fueled successful college careers still burn. There are no eye-popping salaries or lucrative shoe contracts. These women, in fact, are not paid for playing, and all have other jobs. But they are proving that the cheering doesn`t have to stop just because they have college diplomas.
”It`s not fair that a league (for women) does not exist, but we`re willing to do something about it,” said Mary Kaminsky, a forward who, at 6 feet, played for Northwestern and is married to Challengers founder Frank Kaminsky.
”That`s why this team was formed-to give us the opportunity to still play competitive basketball against college teams and gain exposure by playing international teams.”
The Challengers` roster includes seven Chicagoans: Kaminsky, Barb Atsaves (De Paul University), Stephanie Chambers-Duckman (Northwestern University), Rishal Dinkins (Northwestern), Sally Donaghy (Purdue University), Colleen Monckton (Loyola University) and Karen Stack (Northwestern). Their teammates are Anucha Browne-Sanders, of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Northwestern); Lisa Jahner-Cole, of Ft. Wayne, Ind. (Purdue), Christa LaCroix-Haase, of Milwaukee, Wis.
(Purdue). Several earned all-Big Ten honors in college, and when Atsaves graduated from De Paul in 1984, she was the school`s all-time leading scorer. Her record has since been broken, but that of Browne-Sanders at Northwestern still stands.
The Challengers arrived in Helsinski Friday for one game before taking a ferry to Stockholm Saturday. They`re scheduled to head back to Finland before returning home Aug. 18. Last summer, the Challengers won one of two exhibition games against a team visiting from the Soviet Union.
Challengers team member Karen Stack, who is assistant to Jerry Krause, vice-president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls, said American women`s teams are in demand because American players are considered among the best in the world, said. They possess superior skills, weaned over years of intense practice and coaching on school teams.
In many foreign countries, corporations, private businesses and towns sponsor teams, not schools.
That situation provides limited opportunities for American women to play pro basketball. Women`s pro leagues flourish in Italy, Japan and Spain, where former American Olympians can earn up to $200,000 a year, Stack said. Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden and Finland have less extensive leagues. Only a few players, however, make big money. For most, it`s simply a chance to experience a different culture for a year or two.
”The level of play in America is so much better,” said Stack, a 6-foot- 3-inch center who played one season for U.S. Vierzon, a pro team in France.
”We`re taught here (in the U.S.) from a young age by experienced coaches. We have fundamental skills that they just don`t have.”
The irony of developing the best players in a land that is devoid of a pro league (several such leagues formed in the past have failed) is like producing high-tech VCRs in a country that has no television sets. Yet the reality has fostered the growth of such teams as the Challengers.
Competitive women`s teams exist across the country, many of which compete in the Amateur Athletic Union. The Challengers` focus, however, is its annual collegiate tour. This fall, the team will face Illinois, Michigan, De Paul and Loyola, teams they defeated during last season`s series of exhibitions. Crowds of up to 4,000 have watched the Challengers face college competition.
”In the first couple of years, our girls didn`t take it too seriously,” Frank Kaminsky said. ”Then, as we kept getting better players, we started beating the teams that used to regularly beat us. In the last two years, it`s really taken off.”
The team`s recent growth can be traced to the dedication of its players, women who compete not for the spoils of wealth but for personal satisfaction. ”I enjoy basketball much more now than in college,” said Donaghy, a 5-foot-9-inch guard/forward. ”There isn`t any pressure, or any three-hour practices and coaches yelling at you. We do it on our own time because we love the sport. It`s a great opportunity to get out there and play the game we love.”
