In the summer of July, 1979 I was asked to document a basketball camp of grade school and high school girls by former Chicago Bull and Utah Jazz Coach, Jerry Sloan for the Chicago Reader newspaper. The article was written by Karl Keller who was a friend of my husband, Frank White. The camp took place at what then called Angel Guardian Orphanage now known as the Misericordia Heart of Mercy. There are action shots and posed photos of the girls with Jerry and other assistant coaches on the floor. Observe the intensity and competitiveness of the ball in action. Jerry often stopped play with a whistle to explain the guts of the game. He was not going to cut any slack with the girls because they were girls. This is how the WMBA was born. Where are they today? We know that Jerry Sloan passed away in 2020 of Lewy body dementia and Parkinsons disease. He was born one of 10 children in Southern Illinois on a farm. His father passed away when he was four years old. He went on to play basketball in high school and college. Afterward he was picked up by the Chicago Bulls, coached the Bulls and went onto a stellar career coaching the Utah Jazz during the Michael Jordan years and beyond. You can read more about Jerry Sloan in his Wikipedia here.
© Diane Alexander White PHOTOGRAPHY