Today’s Birthday Celebrant created the most successful girls sports program in the history of Amsterdam, New York. It was the mid 1960’s and Title 9 had not yet been enacted by high schools in New York State. As a result, if you were a young girl in this town back then, your gym class was about the only place you got to participate in an organized sports activity with other females your age.
In 1965, Nadia Tuman decided it was time to change that and took on the task of creating a softball league in the Rug City for girl’s ages 8 through 12. She certainly had help. The assistance of folks like Vera Januszewski, Theresa Scialabba, George Lazarou, Stan Pendrak and several others were indispensable to the league’s launch but it was the tireless leadership of Mrs. Tuman that ensured all the necessary pieces were in place.
She got the Amsterdam Prep (boy’s baseball) League to sponsor the new circuit and obtained the approval of the City’s Recreation Department, which agreed to maintain the new league’s playing fields, provide equipment and financial aid. She recruited parents from all over the city to serve as managers and coaches. She organized fundraisers and lobbied the Amsterdam Recorder to provide good coverage of Cinderella League activities and events. She found sponsors for the teams and umpires to call the games. She helped create schedules and figure out uniforms.
The big moment came on May 26, 1965…
