Concordia's Gymnasium
The gymnasium (later Berg Art Center), built in 1915, was the home of Cobber athletics and physical education until 1953, when it was remodeled to the Berg Art Center. It remained the Berg Art Center until 1991 when it was demolished to make room for the heat plant. [1] During this period, women’s participation in athletics at Concordia and around the United States was on the rise. In the fall of 1920, faculty member Hilda Loverud organized the first women’s athletic program at Concordia. [2] The only women’s sports team formed at that time was basketball. In that first year they did not compete against any other teams; rather, they simply participated in class games. In Concordia’s second year of women’s athletics, the team had a few games scheduled against the Young Women’s Christian Association and North Dakota Agricultural College (what is now North Dakota State University).[3] Women were able to compete with other teams until around 1929. At this time, the school went back to having just inter-class play, perhaps due to the economic crisis in the United States at this time. The teams would choose a captain and a varsity male to coach them. [4] A few more women’s sports were added over the years and Concordia employed a number of female Physical Education Directors and coaches through this period of growth and development.
In 1926, Cobber women founded the official Women’s Athletic Association (WAA) at Concordia. These women participated in inter-class games and occasionally played local teams and Minnesota teams from the surrounding area. Once a week the Cobber men were banned from the gymnasium to allow for coeds to get together to play basketball, volleyball, badminton, shuffleboard, and other various games.[5] This gave the women one day out of the week to practice sports of their interest. In 1947, the Cobberettes basketball team was formed and began to play against other colleges again. [6]
[1] Concordia College Archives, Moorhead, Minnesota: Berg Art Center Building File, Concordia College Buildings.
[2] Concordia College Yearbook 1937 , The Cobber, 182-183.
[3] Concordia College Yearbook 1923 The Scout, 202.
[4] Concordia College Yearbook 1929 The Cobber, 195.
[5] Erling N. Rolfsrud, Cobber Chronicle, 2nd ed. (Moorhead, Minnesota: Concordia College, 1976), 168.
[6] "Women's athletic tradition elusive," The Concordian, March 7, 1986.