“Lest We Forget”: The Chocolate CoEds

Tammy Gibson CNW Staff Writer

Basketball is America’s sport, founded in 1891. Blacks were prohibited from playing basketball on white teams during the early years. This led to the era of the “Black Fives” and the emergence of basketball teams for Black women. Teams were known as the “fives” because there were five starting players. Some Black Fives female basketball teams include the Roamer Girls, Washington Belles, Philadelphia Tribune Girls, and Harlem Mysterious Girls. One of the most popular teams was the Chocolate CoEds, founded on the south side of Chicago in 1934.

Formerly known as the Club Store Coeds, the female basketball team began at a black church basketball league in Chicago. Dick Hudson was the team’s promoter. Hudson promoted teams, including the Hottentots softball team and Savoy Big Five basketball team. The team’s sponsor was Club Store, a Black-owned department store located on 47th Street in Bronzeville. The Coeds’ included the most talented women in the nation. Team superstar Helen “Streamline” Smith of Lemoyne College in Memphis at 6 feet 7 inches, was considered the tallest female in basketball. A player could only hold Smith to 30 points a game. Smith was also known as “Miss Basketball.” Other players on the Coeds team were four-time All-American Kate Bard of Crane College in Chicago (now Malcolm X College), Marge Jackson, Oberlin Co-eds and La Salle College of Chicago, Oberlin Co-eds and Philadelphia Tribune’s Bernice “Mighty Atom” Marshall, and Lula Porter, a four-time winner of the all-black American Tennis Association’s women’s singles championship, The Coeds traveled to states in the Midwest and West coast performing as show teams. Local papers covering the Coeds began calling the team the “Chocolate Coeds,” which led to their name change. The Chocs were the first Black all-female basketball team.

The Chocs played for nearly 20 years and were considered the best all-Black female basketball team in the nation. The Chocs’ 1949 game schedule was 89 games in 30 states, 44 contests against women, and 45 competitions against men. The Chocs frequently accomplished up to 35-game winning streaks.

The popularity of the Chocs declined and ended in the 1950s. The history of the Chocolate Coeds, the Black Fives men and women were lost in sports history. The Chocolate Coeds’ contributions to basketball paved the way for generations of Black female players who loved the game of basketball.

Black women, either dribbling the ball or coaching, have made progress over the decades. Trailblazing and legendary coach Dorothy Gaters was a force in girl’s basketball at Marshall High School in Chicago. Gaters has won 10 state championship titles during her 46year basketball coaching career. At least five of Gaters’ athletes play for the WNBA, and more than 20 play overseas. Black coaches, especially women, are underrepresented in hiring practices. Gaters says that black women’s coaching positions are held to a higher standard mainly because there are few opportunities. “As a Black person, as a person of color, you have to be better than your counterparts, bottom line,” says Gaters.

Many Black athletes have been vocal and using their platform to address racial injustices. Critics and fans want politics out of sports, and Black athletes should just “Shut up and dribble.” Gaters says athletes at all lev-

Do you have a long-lost retirement account left with a former employer? Maybe it’s been so long that you can’t even remember. With over 24 million “forgotten” 401(k) accounts holding roughly $1.35 trillion in assets, even the most organized professional may be surprised to learn that they have unclaimed “found” money.1

Considering that baby boomers alone have worked an average of 12 jobs in their lifetimes, it can be all too easy for retirement accounts to get lost in the shuffle.2 Think back to your first job. Can you remember what happened to your work-sponsored retirement plan? If you’re even slightly unsure, then it’s time to go looking for your potentially forgotten funds.

One of the best ways to find lost retirement accounts is to contact your former employers. If you’re unsure where to direct your call, try the human resources or accounting department. They should be able to check their plan records to see if you’ve ever participated. However, you will most likely be asked to els realize that they have a powerful platform and they have the right to use it. “It was wonderful to see the WNBA and NBA get involved and push bringing Britney Griner home to the forefront. I think that helped tremendously in applying pressure for her release. It was not just professional athletes but high school and college athletes. They realize they, too, have a platform,” says Gaters.

Gaters’ advice to future athletes, both male, and female, is education. On the national level, only 2% of all athletes play professional sports. “The 98% that don’t make it, what are they going to do? You have to prepare yourself for life beyond a sport. If you fall short, make sure that you have a backup plan. That’s my number one advice,” says Gaters.

To learn more about the Black Fives, go to www. blackfives.org.