Former prof, coach more than a world record holder

Becky Sisley still hasn’t stopped coaching and playing. And her voice has never been stronger advocating for women in sports.
 
She’s in the UO Athletics Hall of Fame for her contributions over 35 years as a coach, professor, and the first director of womens athletics in UO history. She continues to support womens athletics, funding a full-ride scholarship every year for a softball player from Oregon or Washington.
 
And now 70, she’s earned worldwide recognition for her own athletic career. Sisley holds world records in her age group in masters track and field. She travels the world competing in everything from the javelin to the hurdles.  (Story continues below video.)

 
Her success and that of the countless athletes she taught and coached has been a long time coming.
 
When Sisley arrived on the UO campus in 1965 as a professor of physical education, she laid out some ground rules for softball games on Gerlinger Field near the Pioneer Cemetery.
 
“If the ball went beyond this tree into the cemetery it was a triple, if it was on the other side of the tree it was a homerun, but if it just went across the road and not into the cemetery it was just a double,” she recalls.
 
A few years later, Sisley passionately implemented and enforced and far more important ground rule for women in athletics – Title IX. (Story continues below video.)

 
Sports, and softball in particular, fed Sisley’s competitive desire and her confidence, empowering her career. For all she’s given to athletics, she remains grateful for what they’ve given her. One way she expresses that gratitude is with a full-ride scholarship given annually to a womens softball player from Oregon or Washington.
 
Currently, Samantha Skillingstad, a pitcher from Spokane has the scholarship.