The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) honored 11 women – six of them from Philly – as Trailblazers this past weekend at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md. A group plaque, and individual plaques for each Trailblazer, were formally dedicated and the plaques were placed along the walking path that winds around the south end of Bill Tierney Field, which was formally dedicated as “Chris Sailer Trail.” This is one of a series on these legendary Trailblazers.
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/27/17
From Press Release and Staff Reports
Former Temple women’s lacrosse coach Tina Sloan Green (Girls’ High, West Chester) was honored as one of 11 former collegiate coaches to celebrate as trailblazers of the game for their exceptional work advancing women’s lacrosse and the coaching profession during the Title IX era. Kleinfelder was officially recognized as an IWLCA Trailblazer last weekend with a plaque along the newly dedicated Chris Sailer Trail.
The only Temple coach to win three national championships, she led the Owls to two NCAA and one AIWA lacrosse titles. In 18 seasons, she compiled an outstanding 207-62-4 record with a .758 career winning percentage. Her finest season came in 1988 when she led the Owls to their only perfect record (19-0), climaxed by a 15-7 victory over Penn State for the NCAA crown.
Her teams had a record-setting 29 game winning streak during the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons.
Green was a member of the U.S. Women’s National First Team, the first African-American named to the national team and the Reserve Team from 1969-71. She was on the Touring Team to Australia-New Zealand and then Great Britain-Northern Ireland in 1969. She has written two books and founded the Black Women in Sports Foundation in 1992. She also founded the Inner City Field Hockey and Lacrosse Program at Temple.
She is the program director of Temple’s National Youth Sports Program and has helped to establish clinics and mentoring programs for girls in cities across the country. She was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997. Green was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators, and is currently Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at Temple University.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Tina Sloan Green, not only as my college coach at Temple, but as a trailblazer for women in sports. She helped put the sport of lacrosse on the map — and did so by breaking through gender and race barriers to reach success at the highest level possible in collegiate athletics with a number of National Championships,” said University of Florida head coach Amanda O’Leary, a former Temple great and Spring-Ford alum. “But more important than winning titles, Tina has devoted her life to being a pioneer in women’s sports. She has paved the way for other women in athletics and has ensured along the way that African-American women in sports have equal opportunities for success.”
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.
She has been inducted into the Temple and West Chester University halls of fame, along with the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Last year, she was also presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators.
