WEST LIBERTY – Shelley Young of Mendon donated a 1940 West Liberty girls basketball uniform that belonged to her late mother, Virginia Landgraver Young, to West Liberty-Salem School. The uniform will be displayed permanently in a WLS athletic trophy case.
While going through her late mother’s belongings, Young discovered the uniform made of wool and in good condition. She said she donated it to the school so her mother could be a part of West Liberty-Salem’s athletic legacy.
The uniform includes the top, shorts, jacket and socks. These items along with a 1940 team photo and a photo of Virginia and her best friend, Patti Piatt Metz, are in a shadow box frame.
Metz, 94, attended the donation presentation at the school. The West Liberty resident is the last living member of the 1940 team. She shared photos and newspaper clippings of fellow 1941 graduates and regaled those present with how this was in the early years of girls basketball, the only organized girls sport at the time.
The team played half-court basketball before each boys game. Both the boys and girls teams played only schools in Logan County and traveled on the same bus to the games. BC Bechtal was the coach for both the boys and girls teams.
Jake Vitt, WL-S athletic director, stated this is the first time a uniform has been donated to West Liberty-Salem by a former graduate.
