Ann Lee Saunders Brown: Competitive Spirit Still Strong
A couple of weeks ago at the invitation of Alex Smith, Ann Lee Saunders Brown, Collegiate class of 1936, dropped by school to share the scrapbook documenting her senior year with a group of very fortunate souls who congregated around Alex’s desk in the Development Office.
In this thick volume almost bursting at the seams was a mélange of newspaper clippings, letters, snapshots, articles from The Candle (the forerunner of The Match), programs from various campus events, and assorted other memorabilia that took her (and us) back 70 years. It was, without a doubt, a treasure trove of memories.
In this thick volume almost bursting at the seams was a mélange of newspaper clippings, letters, snapshots, articles from The Candle (the forerunner of The Match), programs from various campus events, and assorted other memorabilia that took her (and us) back 70 years. It was, without a doubt, a treasure trove of memories.
To say that Ann Lee was involved in the life of the school – in her
case the Collegiate School for Girls on Monument Avenue – is an
understatement.
She served as captain of the Greens in their intramural competition with the Golds.
She was an outstanding athlete whose teammates elected captain of the basketball team for two years and the field hockey team for one.
She even has her varsity letters from those sports – and ones for tennis and archery as well – in her scrapbook.
She was the Rosemary Award recipient her senior year. She still has the medal. Yep, it’s in her scrapbook.
As her rapt audience looked on for almost 90 minutes, she turned the pages, all the while offering a charming narrative tinged with self-deprecating wit and brightened by her smile and twinkling eyes.
She talked of gym classes at the Town School when the girls played hoops on the roof. “Whether it was raining or not,” she said, “we were up there. When the ball went over, someone had to go down three or four stories to get it.”
She recalled the days the basketball team practiced and played home games at the YWCA on Fifth Street. Her position, she explained, was “side center,” and she talked excitedly of the “battle royal” (so described in The Candle) with St. Catherine’s her senior season.
Turns out that the girls from 1619 Monument were still smarting from a 25-24 loss the previous year. Before the game, she and her teammates received several Western Union telegrams from graduates now in college. One, from Sweet Briar, read: COME ON TEAM GET UP STEAM WIPE UP ST CATS JUST LIKE DOORMATS SHAKE AND SHIVER QUAKE AND QUIVER UNTIL WE HEAR NEWS THAT WE DIDNT LOSE PLEASE BEAT ST CATTY
Though the attempt at poetry was obscured a bit by the block type and lack of punctuation, the message was clear. “When the battle smoke had cleared” (again, from the student newspaper), Collegiate had a 20-16 victory.
Ann Lee’s fondest athletic memory, though, was the final field hockey game of her career, a 2-2 tie with favored St. Catherine’s on November 22, 1935.
“They had a lot of boarders from Philadelphia,” she said. “Philadelphia had outstanding players in those days. They were all sharpshooters. We were there with spirit.”
In the waning minutes, the home team led 2-1. The “stick wielders from Collegiate” (as they were called in a Richmond Times-Dispatch article) mounted a furious charge. When all seemed lost, the left wing – Ann Lee Saunders – smacked the tying goal into the net.
“Wow! Did we go up in joy!” she said. “We felt like we won because they were so overpowering. Those of us who were there will never forget that day.”
The sports writer for The Candle attributed the team’s momentous accomplishment to the enthusiasm on the sideline and its absolute determination to “hit ‘em in the eye and knock ‘em in the head.”
On Nov. 4, Ann Lee Saunders Brown will be inducted into Collegiate’s Athletic Hall of Fame. True to her gracious, humble nature, she expressed disbelief that she would be so honored. The irrefutable proof, though, is on the pages of her scrapbook. — Weldon Bradshaw
Back
She served as captain of the Greens in their intramural competition with the Golds.
She was an outstanding athlete whose teammates elected captain of the basketball team for two years and the field hockey team for one.
She even has her varsity letters from those sports – and ones for tennis and archery as well – in her scrapbook.
She was the Rosemary Award recipient her senior year. She still has the medal. Yep, it’s in her scrapbook.
As her rapt audience looked on for almost 90 minutes, she turned the pages, all the while offering a charming narrative tinged with self-deprecating wit and brightened by her smile and twinkling eyes.
She talked of gym classes at the Town School when the girls played hoops on the roof. “Whether it was raining or not,” she said, “we were up there. When the ball went over, someone had to go down three or four stories to get it.”
She recalled the days the basketball team practiced and played home games at the YWCA on Fifth Street. Her position, she explained, was “side center,” and she talked excitedly of the “battle royal” (so described in The Candle) with St. Catherine’s her senior season.
Turns out that the girls from 1619 Monument were still smarting from a 25-24 loss the previous year. Before the game, she and her teammates received several Western Union telegrams from graduates now in college. One, from Sweet Briar, read: COME ON TEAM GET UP STEAM WIPE UP ST CATS JUST LIKE DOORMATS SHAKE AND SHIVER QUAKE AND QUIVER UNTIL WE HEAR NEWS THAT WE DIDNT LOSE PLEASE BEAT ST CATTY
Though the attempt at poetry was obscured a bit by the block type and lack of punctuation, the message was clear. “When the battle smoke had cleared” (again, from the student newspaper), Collegiate had a 20-16 victory.
Ann Lee’s fondest athletic memory, though, was the final field hockey game of her career, a 2-2 tie with favored St. Catherine’s on November 22, 1935.
“They had a lot of boarders from Philadelphia,” she said. “Philadelphia had outstanding players in those days. They were all sharpshooters. We were there with spirit.”
In the waning minutes, the home team led 2-1. The “stick wielders from Collegiate” (as they were called in a Richmond Times-Dispatch article) mounted a furious charge. When all seemed lost, the left wing – Ann Lee Saunders – smacked the tying goal into the net.
“Wow! Did we go up in joy!” she said. “We felt like we won because they were so overpowering. Those of us who were there will never forget that day.”
The sports writer for The Candle attributed the team’s momentous accomplishment to the enthusiasm on the sideline and its absolute determination to “hit ‘em in the eye and knock ‘em in the head.”
On Nov. 4, Ann Lee Saunders Brown will be inducted into Collegiate’s Athletic Hall of Fame. True to her gracious, humble nature, she expressed disbelief that she would be so honored. The irrefutable proof, though, is on the pages of her scrapbook. — Weldon Bradshaw
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