Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/8/13
From Press Release
Temple coaching great Tina Sloan Green was one of 16 inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame as part of Class X Thursday night at the Sheraton, Society Hill. Sloan Green, currently a Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at Temple, served as Temple’s head lacrosse coach from 1973-1992.
Other inductees of Class X included Geno Auriemma, famed women’s basketball coach at the University of Connecticut, Greg Luzinski, a standout for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1970’s, John LeClair, one of the top goal scorers in Philadelphia Flyers history, and Eddie George, a standout NFL running back for the Tennessee Titans who was born in Philadelphia. The complete list can be found here: http://www.phillyhall.org/class10/.
During her 20 years at the helm of the Temple Owls’ lacrosse team, Sloan Green amassed a 207-62-4 career coaching record with a .758 career winning percentage. She led the Owls to three national championships and 11 consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances. Most of the players on the teams were recruited from the Philadelphia region.
As a soft-spoken trailblazer, Sloan Green has left an indelible mark on every organization she has been involved with throughout her career. She co-founded the Black Women in Sport Foundation in 1992, and since assuming the helm, she has worked to ensure that young underserved minority students gain full exposure to nontraditional sports. The foundation also works to provide healthy alternatives to at-risk women and children in all aspects of sport. Sloan Green’s impressive track record for filling a much-needed void in women’s sports continues to garner the organization increasing support from both the public and private sectors.
In 1973, Sloan Green became the first African-American head coach in the history of women’s intercollegiate lacrosse, going on to lead the Owls to unprecedented success.
Her work off the field is equally impressive. As Professor of Sport and Culture in Temple’s College of Education, she served as co-principal investigator of Sisters in Sports Science, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation, and Director of the Temple University National Youth Sports Program.
A member of the US Lacrosse, Temple, West Chester, and Women’s Sports Foundation Halls of Fame, Sloan Green stays active in lacrosse through many avenues, including the BRIDGE program, which helps bring lacrosse to inner-city children. A lifetime advocate for women in sport, Sloan Green retired from coaching in 1992 but did not retire from the sport.
Excellence was never a very foreign concept for Sloan Green. She grew up in the Eastwick section of Philadelphia and graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls, an educational institution that was — and still is — one of the best high schools in the city. Girls High is where Sloan Green first started playing field hockey, and she was a terrific player.
After a fine scholastic career, she decided to go to West Chester State College, now known as West Chester University. It was the first time she was given the opportunity to add lacrosse to her athletic repertoire. And in the mid-1960s, she was one of only a handful of black women playing the sport.
After graduating from West Chester University, Sloan Green made the U.S. women’s field hockey team. In 1969, she became the first African-American named to the national women’s lacrosse team. She played on the touring team for four years. During those years, she also taught physical education and coached field hockey and basketball on the scholastic level.
In 1973, she became the head basketball and cheerleading coach at Lincoln University, a historically black college in Chester County on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Sloan Green was able to gain some valuable experience coaching at the collegiate level.
Professor Sloan Green has authored two books, written several articles for publication and contributed enumerable hours practicing what she preaches- supporting the advancement of women of color in all areas of sport. In 2008, Sloan Green received Lifetime Achievement awards from the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA) and the National Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (NWLCA).
Sloan Green has been married to Frank Green, Jr., for 34 years and they have two children. Her children are equally gifted as her daughter is the Head Coach of the Harvard University women’s tennis team and her son was the most valuable player of the men’s tennis team at Florida A&M. Her son, Frank Green, III, graduated from Florida A&M and is now a full-time tennis pro at Merion Cricket Club.
Written with contributions by Donald Hunt, Philadelphia Tribune
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