Frances Schaafsma

Who was Frances Schaafsma?

Dr. Frances M. Schaafsma was a pioneer in women's sports in both basketball and volleyball, as well as a pioneer in collegiate athletics administration for female athletes. Her books on these two sports were among the first and best-known. Women's Basketball, Physical Education Activities Series was published in 1966 and Basketball for Women was published in 1971.

Volleyball for Coaches and Teachers was first published in 1974; a second edition was published in 1985. Volleyball, Exploring Sports Series was published in 1984.

Dr. Schaafsma became the women's basketball coach for Long Beach State in 1962. Beginning in 1965 when conference play began, Fran led the 49ers to 11 straight conference titles. In all, Fran coached the team for 17 seasons, beginning with play in the Southern California Women's Conference, then the Extramural Coordinating Council of Southern California Colleges, the Southern California Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and finally the Western Collegiate Athletic Association.

Fran's record at Long Beach was 209-73, including a final season mark in 1978-79 of 24-8. Dr. Schaafsma never had a losing season at Long Beach; in fact, the 49ers first losing season did not come until 1992-93, 2 years after Dr. Schaafsma's successor, Joan Bonvicini, left for the University of Arizona.