GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Jerseys. Ticket Stubs. Game Programs. A wide collection of Gold Balls is on display, honoring the rich history of high school girls’ basketball in Wisconsin.
It’s a celebration of the players who built legacies and serves as a goal that many upcoming student-athletes want to achieve.
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“I don’t think that any of these women who gave us anything realized that they would be apart of the history, and I’m hoping that the younger girls who are playing see this, so I hope they see this, continue to play as well, and know that we will celebrate them as part of this history too,” said WIAA tournament director Melissa Gehring.
Gehring says seeing all of this rich history is just a small imprint of what this means for many of the athletes in Wisconsin.
“To see what people have kept throughout the years is not only heartwarming, but it also goes to show how much it means that playing the sport meant to these women, across the state and across the country, every ones living everywhere now,” said Gehring.
That’s what it’s all about, playing for a chance to hoist a Gold Ball in the Resch Center, which makes this tournament special.
“Many of them have dreamed of the possibility of going to state their whole life, so getting it here, having them here, and having the privilege of being able to make it an extra special event is really special for Green Bay,” said Discover Green Bay executive director Brad Toll.
Green Bay began hosting the tournament in 2013, and it provides a huge tourism and economic boost to the city.
“How many local teams, how many have traveled and stayed overnight, but typically that is about 2.3 million of an economic impact on our community, it does have a financial impact, certainly having the building full,” said Toll.
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The 50th anniversary of the high school girls’ state basketball tournament begins March 12-14th at the Resch Center.
