GLASS in Girls Sports

Preparation and persistence.

They are traits noted by those who knew him best…qualities that would help form a new generation of high school athletes, and empower hundreds of young women to go out and be great. Ask anyone you’d like; Mr. Myron Glass was a true GOAT.

It was the early 70’s. Bell-bottoms and disco were on the rise, and the Vietnam War was coming to an end.

Lourdes High School was bustling with their near 500 students, and the Athletics Department had a new sheriff in town.

Mr. Marv Peters had just started his first (and only) job out of college when he remembers Mr. Dick Sherman and Mr. Glass, LHS coaches and educators, stopping by his office.

They had a simple yet profound request.

“They came to me, the new, young athletic director, to ask for some uniforms, some games to schedule, some gym practice time, and some transportation needs,” Peters said.

Little did he know, this request would be the turning of a page and the start of a new era in women’s athletics. As if starting a new job in itself wasn’t daunting enough!

The first girls basketball team, coached by Sherman, became official in 1971 - and would build upon the first few women’s athletics programs that had begun at LHS a few years prior.

Glass had been coaching at LHS since 1968beginning with Football and B-Squad Boys Basketball. In 1970, he took over the Boys Cross Country and Track teams, and was instrumental in forming the first Girls Track and Cross Country programs.

“Myron wouldn’t hear the word ‘no.’ He was very persistent, and with that persistence came great outcomes,” Mr. Denny Nigon '64 said, who served as LHS principal from 19872007. “He felt that the girls certainly deserved to have an opportunity like the boys.”

LHS was on the leading edge of creating opportunities for female athletes when Title IX passed a year later, mandating equal educational opportunities for men and women.

The same persistence Glass demonstrated in advocating for the first female athletics programs, would lead his teams to win six State Titles in Cross Country (four in Boys and two in Girls) and two State Titles in track. It would also lead him to begin a legendary career as head Girls Varsity Basketball coach in 1984 - the team he advocated for 13 years prior.

Throughout his tenure as head coach, he impacted the lives of hundreds of female athletes.

“Mr. Glass taught me how important thorough preparation is to perform well in any task. He also had an uncanny ability to recognize the potential in each player, and orchestrate how best to optimize the strength of all players to benefit the team,” Melissa (Missy Sheehan) Rott '95 said, who played Varsity Basketball for Glass for three years.

He instilled important lessons in not only his players, but fellow coaches as well.

“He taught me to be ready for the little things, and it was a huge confidence builder for me,” Ms. Sarah Groven said, LHS director of counseling and head Girls Soccer coach.