IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
IOWA CORNETS
RECORDS, 1978-1997 and
undated
1.5 linear inches
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ACQUISITION: |
The records/papers (donor no. 459)
were donated by, George
Nissen in 1997. |
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ACCESS: |
The records are open for research. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
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AUDIOVISUAL: |
1 videocassette, V221. |
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PROCESSED BY: |
Angelisa Rowland, 1998.
[IACornets.doc] |
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History
The Iowa Cornets, first team to become a
member of the Women's Basketball League (WBL), was created in 1978 under the administration
of George Nissen, a Cedar Rapids businessman.
The opportunity to create the women's team arose in 1977 when the WBL
was created by Bill Byrne. The Cornets
were officially inducted when Nissen purchased a franchise for the state of
Iowa at a coat of $50,000.
Nissen
decided the Cornets would remain a statewide team, therefore the schedule was
designed to offer "home" games in differing locations such as Des
Moines and Cedar Rapids. Molly Bolin, a
native of Moravia, Iowa, became the first player to sign with Cornets in July
1978. Other players followed to fill
the roster at fourteen. Practice began in October 1978.
That
same year, Nissen agreed to provide financial backing for the motion picture Dribble. The film, starring professional basketball player Pete Maravich
and players from the Cornets team, is a comedy about an underdog women's
basketball team that overcomes the rival men's team. The film was shot in Cedar Rapids and other Iowa locations. It
attracted a great deal of attention when it opened in Iowa in January 1979 but
received low box-office sales in the rest of the nation
The
WBL opened in 1978 with eight teams in two divisions and included new rules for
women's professional basketball, including a smaller and lighter ball, a 24-second
clock, and a five-on-five rather than six-on-six game. Each team played a season consisting of two
or three games per week with the championship games in April. B the start of the second season, fourteen
teams had joined the WBL and a third division had been created. By early 1980, however, the WBL and even the
Cornets, who had been the highest crowd-drawing team in the league, were
suffering. Nissen agreed to sell eighty
percent of the franchise to former disc jockey Dick Vance in January of that
year but was forced to close the franchise in September when Vance was unable
to provide sufficient funds.
Scope and
Content Note
The Iowa Cornets records date from 1978 to 1997 and
measure 1.5 linear inches. the collection consists primarily of newspaper
clippings about the Iowa Cornets, along with brochures, publicity material, and
a program for the 1979-1980 season. Also included are newspaper clippings about
the filming of Dribble and girl's basketball, and articles concerning women's
professional basketball leagues of the late 1970s
Related Collections
Molly
Bolin papers
Rhonda
Penquite papers
Bolin and Penquite were members of
the Iowa Cornets
Box no. Description
Box 1
Iowa Cornets
Newspaper clippings
1978-1980 [some originals are
oversized, filed in map case]
1997
Publicity, 1978-1979 and
undated
Season program, 1979-1980
Miscellaneous, 1978
Dribble
Media coverage, 1978 and
undated
Videocassette of Dribble
(V221)
Girl's basketball
Newspaper clippings, 1978
and undated
Women's Basketball League
(WBL)
Articles and newspaper
clippings, 1977-1979 and undated