Game changer

Remembering the godmother of Oklahoma women’s basketball

In her book Basketball for Girls (1962), iconic coach and Oklahoma legend Bertha Frank Teague offers simple advice: “Keep hustling. A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.”

Teague didn’t quit and kept winning throughout her 42-year career as the head coach for the Byng High School girls basketball team. Incredibly, though, Teague never played the game herself before signing on as head coach of the school in the small southern Oklahoma town, where she was a first-grade teacher and her husband Jess was the school superintendent.

Teague agreed to the job, purchased a book about the game and went on to become the mother of women’s basketball in Oklahoma, setting a winning standard for the game that still holds today.  

“She never played a lick, but she loved the game,” said Bobby Johns, Teague’s assistant coach from 1961-69. “She was always dressed neat as a pin, but she would lay down on that whistle every now and then.”

Johns worked with Teague up until the year that she retired, and his mother also played basketball under her tutelage at Byng High School in 1932.

“She didn’t like to lose but she was real fair,” Johns said. “She never talked about the officials or the other teams. She was just a lady. Her and Mr. Teague, they took care of the girls on the team. They made sure that the players ate, helped them get to games, fixed their hair, and helped out with buying equipment and tennis shoes.”

After retiring at the end of the 1969 season, Teague asked if she could come back to give a pep talk to the team before their first game with Johns as the head coach. “We got all the players out in the gym and she got up and gave a big pep talk,” he said. “She told the girls, ‘You girls remember, you do exactly what Mr. Johns tells you to do, because I taught him everything he knows.”

During her 42-year career at Byng High School, Teague’s record as coach was 1,157 wins and 115 losses, which included one winning streak of 98 games. Overall, her teams won eight state championships, 38 conference titles and had five undefeated seasons. She was one of the first women to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985. She is also a member of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the National Federation of State High Schools Hall of Fame.

Her book details a set of instructions focused on training the body, learning fundamental skills and being a good teammate. She also includes information and advice for coaches, encouraging them to mentor players off the court.

Teague recognized the community-building power of basketball. She encouraged other coaches to embrace their role as leaders. She was not only dedicated to the growth of her individual players, but to the growth and progression of the game of women’s basketball overall.

Her book also lays out some of the more minute aspects of coaching, even making recommendations for what meals should be eaten and when: “Peaches and crackers, or poached eggs on dry toast, with tea. Reserve the heavy meal until after the game.”

Teague was not just a coach, but a leader who pushed the women’s game forward. The game was very different when she began coaching in 1926. Many women-led groups including the Athletic Conference of American College Women and the Committee on Women’s Athletics, were established to make sure that basketball played by women did not over exert the women’s bodies, which were thought to be more fragile than men’s.

There was also fear that the competitive spirit of the game could contribute to women behaving poorly, especially when the games had male viewers. Rules were put in place that restricted the amount a player could dribble before passing as well as to make sure the players would not try to steal the ball from each other. In 1951, largely thanks to organizing and advocating by Coach Teague, unlimited dribbling was allowed and the ball could be pursued aggressively by defenders.  

Basketball, with its fast-paced movement and physicality, is a game filled with exciting momentum shifts. Teague believed the women’s game should be infused with the same energy.  

Teague did not seek out basketball, but the game found her. And once it did, she worked her hardest to be the best coach and leader possible, becoming a pillar of her community. She left a lasting impact on her players, her team, and her community, along with a lasting legacy for women’s sports in Oklahoma