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By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent

Ginny Vorwald, F, Bloomington Class of 1976, and Wisconsin women's basketball
BLOOMINGTON – Often times we go through life not realizing how impactful and influential the most insignificant events and opportunities at the time can actually have on our future and how we have arrived to be the person we are today.

“There are no little events in life, those we think of no consequence may be full of fate,” said 19th-century novelist Amelia E. Barr.

Whether you believe in fate or that your life’s path is merely a result of what you do with the opportunities given to you, it appears to me, a once young girl growing up on a Glen Haven farm in the 1970’s was destined to not only be a pioneer in women’s athletics, but come September, also a member of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Virginia Vorwald, or Ginny as she later became known, was the youngest of three children born to Virgil and Lois Vorwald of Glen Haven. A farm girl, whose interest in basketball coincidently aligned perfectly with a series of fortunate events, and not only had a significant impact on her high school and college years, but also shaped the person she is today.

Ginny’s rise to basketball stardom is on all accounts a fascinating one, and one that has also led up to her induction into the WBCA Hall of Fame on Sunday, Sept. 27 in Wisconsin Dells.

Ginny will join the likes of Bloomington natives Ron Benish and John Patterson in the WBCA Hall of Fame, as well as 2026 inductee Steve Merfeld.

Ginny’s path to the Hall of Fame unknowingly began in the summer of 1972, though a soon-to-be freshman at Bloomington High School had no idea at the time how president Richard Nixon’s signing of Title IX would impact the next seven years of her life.

While boys’ sports like basketball, football and baseball ruled the high school athletic scene as far back as the early 1900’s, girls’ sports at the high school level never really took shape until the early 70’s with the signing of the civil rights law.

With the signing of Title IX in June of 1972, girls were now afforded the same opportunities as boys, leading to the inception of girls’ basketball, volleyball and other sports teams at the high school level.

Ginny’s introduction to basketball came during Phy. Ed classes at St. Mary’s Catholic School as a tall seventh and eighth grader, but she has no recollection of playing basketball at Bloomington High School during her freshman year of 1972-73.

Her first real involvement in basketball came during her sophomore year at BHS, where assistant coach Dick Jacobson, husband to head coach Adele Jacobson, taught her the nuances of becoming an effective post player.

“Dick just took me and grilled me about that big step, going up strong, boxing out and all that,” remembers Ginny.

Though relegated more to the bench during her sophomore year, the next season as a junior it didn’t take long and the 6’0” forward for the Jayettes began making a name for herself in and around southwest Wisconsin.

During Ginny’s junior year in 1974-75, coach Adele Jacobson’s Jayettes put together an unbeaten record of 8-0, playing teams from Cassville, Belmont, Benton, Potosi, West Grant, Southwestern, Shullsburg and Highland. There were no all-conference selections then, no playoffs and no state tournament recognized by the WIAA at the time either.

The Jayettes again went 8-0 against teams from the Blackhawk Conference during the 1975-76 season, and even picked up non-conference wins over Mineral Point and Lancaster of the Southern Eight and Fennimore, Prairie du Chien and River Valley of the SWAL.

Ginny was the leading scorer in the Blackhawk Conference in 1975-76 and the second-leading rebounder, though no all-conference team was announced at the conclusion of that season either.

One major addition to the girls’ basketball season in 1976 was the introduction of the first-ever girls’ state basketball tournament sponsored by the WIAA, who had been sponsoring a boy’s state basketball tournament since 1916.

The timing couldn’t have been better for Ginny and her teammates, who made the most of their opportunity and wound up playing in the first-ever state girls’ basketball game during the first-ever year of the WIAA State Girls’ Basketball Tournament.

In sub-regional play that year, the Jayettes defeated Cassville and Wauzeka. They then won a regional title with wins over Seneca and Black Hawk.

In sectional play Bloomington defeated Whitehall and New Lisbon, with Ginny leading in scoring both games with 20 points against Whitehall and 24 against New Lisbon.

“We just had such a great group at that time,” said Ginny. “There was Joyce Martin, Kris Paulus, Kate Parkins and Nora Patterson. I think once we kind of started getting into tournaments, that’s when it really started to get super exciting.”

“We didn’t really have any expectations,” Ginny added. “We got out of regionals and we won at sectionals, and before we knew it we were staying at the Sheraton in Madison for the sate tournament.”

The Jayettes entered the WIAA state tournament with a record of 19-2, and on Thursday, March 4, took the court against Ondossagon (18-1) in the first-ever girls’ state tournament game.

Bloomington won their Class C state semifinal game by the score of 48-41 after jumping out to a 12-0 lead to start the game. The very first point scored in the very first girls’ state basketball tournament was made by Bloomington’s Kris Paulus.

Ginny scored 15 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in the win and followed up the next day with 12 points and nine rebounds in a 40-36 loss to Marshall in the Class C state championship game.

At the conclusion of the state tournament, Ginny was named to the WIAA Class C All-Tournament Team, which was selected by the Madison newspaper reporters. She also led the Class C tournament field with 28 total rebounds and was second in the field with 27 points. In her two state tournament games, Ginny was 10-of-24 from the field and 7-of-14 from the free throw line.

Coach Adele Jacobson had said in a story following the state tournament, that many coaches and sportswriters had told her they thought Ginny Vorwald was outstanding, “The best in the tourney.”

Someone else who thought Ginny was the best in the tournament was a man by the name of Dennis Simpson, who was asked by Wisconsin’s Director of Women’s Athletics Dr. Kit Saunders to scout the WIAA girls’ basketball tournament for the University of Wisconsin.

Simpson, who was working at Rocky’s at the time and wasn’t officially affiliated with the university or the women’s basketball program, told Saunders about Ginny and what she had done at the state tournament. He later was hired as an assistant coach at Wisconsin.

At the time, Ginny had academic scholarship offers from Carroll College and Drake University waiting for her after graduation, but then Madison came calling.

“The whole recruitment thing, I totally didn’t know anything about, and my parents knew nothing,” Ginny said. “The thought of getting your schooling paid for to play ball was the biggest prize I could have ever wanted. I didn’t need anything more.”

With four partial basketball scholarships at their disposal, Saunders offered one to Ginny following a campus visit, which a couple of years later was upgraded to a full scholarship.

“I don’t remember if they called or wrote a letter, I just don’t remember. But it was just so out of the blue,” Ginny said of the Badger’s interest.

“I had told myself I would never go to Madison. Madison is where they have riots and crazy people. They were just coming off the bombing at Sterling Hall. That’s just a crazy town,” Ginny added.

“I got an invitation to come up, and I’m sure it was mom who went with me, where we met with Kit Saunders. The next thing you know, I’m going on a tour of the campus, I don’t know who gave it to me. Then they offered me one of the four partial scholarships,” Ginny remembers. “I guess I realized what a great school it was, and being able to play on that floor again, it was pretty exciting.”

Ginny concluded a short, but illustrious, athletic career at Bloomington High School not only as one of the top basketball players in the state, but also as a two-time Class C state champion in the 880 run, a Class C state track and field team title in 1975, and as a member of the 1974 and 1975 Bloomington volleyball teams that made back-to-back state tournament appearances.

“I remember wearing the same pair of shoes for all three sports and we would get them at Blackbourn’s Shoe Store on Main Street,” said Ginny. “They were blue with red and white stripes.”

With her days as a Bluejay behind her and her days as a Badger now upon her, Ginny made an immediate impression on the coaching staff, particularly with her rebounding and defensive skills.

“That’s what I was most comfortable doing, playing defense and rebounding,” said Ginny. “Everybody has their strengths, and that’s where mine lied. I just didn’t have a lot of confidence in my shooting.”

“I think maybe if I had more experience prior to college, and having more ball handling skills, that would have made me more of a threat. In high school I could just turn around and shoot,” Ginny said laughing. “You do that in college and you’re going to have a ball in your face.”

It was at Wisconsin that Ginny quickly became known as “Twang,” as in the sound a rubber band makes. You see, it was said that Ginny rebounded like a rubber band, which quickly led to the nickname of the “Rubber Band Man,” also popularized by the famous song by The Spinners.

Under first-year head coach Edwina Qualls, the Badger women played mostly against state schools during the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons from La Crosse, Whitewater, Platteville, Oshkosh and Eau Claire in the Wisconsin Women’s intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WWIAC).

During Ginny’s freshman season in 1976-77, the Badgers finished with a record of 7-14, while Ginny pulled down a team-high 185 rebounds and led the team in attempted free throws with 86.

The team traveled in station wagons driven by the coaches, and Ginny even remembers traveling with the swim team once.

The following season, Wisconsin went 14-10 and followed up with a 13-11 record to end the 1978-79 season.

During her senior season at Wisconsin in 1979-80, Ginny, who was playing under a full scholarship, scored 141 points (5.2 average) and had 130 rebounds (4.8 average) for the Badgers who went 11-16.

Ginny played in 91 games at the University of Wisconsin, where she was the team’s leading rebounder as a freshman with an average of 9.4 rebounds per game, and finished her four-year college career with 501 total points and 606 total rebounds.

While playing basketball all four years at Wisconsin, Ginny was also a member of the Dean’s List all four years, studying Nutritional Science.

“My life was playing ball, studying or going to classes, eating and sleeping,” said Ginny of her college days. “I had no social life.”

“The area of study that I was in, I had to get an internship when I graduate, and to get an internship I had to have a high enough grade point average to get in.”

“I didn’t want to be a disappointment. Some of my teammates did have a social life and somehow had a better balance maybe than I did. I just wanted to do everything I could to make sure I succeeded in school,” Ginny added.

“When coach would describe us to people, she would say Dot is really good at assists, Bird is an awesome shooter, and Ginny, she’s a good student,” Ginny said laughing.

Adjusting to life at Madison wasn’t easy for Ginny, but being a member of the basketball team helped significantly.

“I think a big challenge was that I didn’t know anyone. No one from my class came to Madison,” said Ginny. “I think as far as succeeding at school, being on a basketball team and having a close-knit group helped me survive being at a school of 40,000.”

After graduating from Madison, Ginny completed a 10-month internship at UW-Hospital for clinical nutrition and then spent a year and a half working as a registered dietitian at Beloit Memorial before getting a position at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. She recently retired in December of 2024.

She continued to play city league basketball after graduation and later watched her own sons play for Madison West High School, with her youngest later playing at UW-Whitewater.

Ginny got word last December that she was selected as part of the 2026 WBCA Hall of Fame induction class, an honor that totally caught her by surprise.

“I was shocked when I received a call from Ken Barrett (WBCA Interim Executive Director),” said Ginny. “He congratulated me and said I would receive addition information in January. In my disbelief, I did not tell a soul until I did receive the WBCA packet.”

“Deeply honored doesn’t even begin to express how I feel,” Ginny added. “I’ve received congratulations from many friends and family members, but I think the folks from back home are the most excited for me and that just touches my heart.”

“I was just so lucky to be where I was at that time. Growing up where I did, and at the time I did, and just having such an awesome group of women in high school and another awesome group in college,” Ginny said.

From the signing of Title IX in 1972, to the WIAA holding the first-ever girls’ state basketball tournament in 1976, fate certainly shined bright on a 6’0” farm girl from Glen Haven.

At the same time, there is no denying Ginny made the most of those opportunities, which led to an abundance of athletic success at Bloomington High School, an impressive college career at UW-Madison, and now a spot in the WBCA Hall of Fame.