Oct. 20, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Three months after the Redbird Softball Complex was formally renamed Marian Kneer Softball Stadium, the Illinois State softball team unveiled new scoreboard signage during Homecoming festivities Saturday that recognize the stadium's new name of Marian Kneer Softball Stadium.
The new signage for the stadium is located directly beneath the right-center field scoreboard.
At a gathering late Saturday morning of current Illinois State softball players and coaches, as well as friends and family of the team, Dr. Marian Kneer, for whom the stadium is now named after, spoke to the current Redbirds for approximately 20 minutes about her playing days in both collegiate and professional softball.
"Dr. Kneer's speech had a very impressive and positive effect on the team," said Illinois State head coach Melinda Fischer. "Our student-athletes were extremely impressed with her and her life story. They really seemed to enjoy her stories about how she grew up in fastpitch softball and her professional career.
"They were really proud to have her on our field and proud to now have her legacy a permanent part of Redbird softball with the renaming of our facility in her honor."
The renaming of the facility came following a recent $250,000 donation by Kneer to the Illinois State Athletics Department.
Kneer earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Illinois State. In 1970, she pioneered the inclusion of women's sports in the Illinois High School Association, two years prior to the passage of the Title IX Education Amendment (1972).
Kneer was inducted into the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1976 and became a member of the College of Education Hall of Fame in 2004. She is also a member of the Greater Peoria and National Association for Sport and Physical Education Halls of Fame. Kneer is the co-author of "Softball, Fast & Slow Pitch," a publication now in its sixth edition and part of the curricula in many softball classes since 1967.
The Redbird softball team has been playing at the facility since April 3, 1999. An official dedication ceremony for the stadium's new name is expected to take place during Illinois State's upcoming spring season; however, an official date for the ceremony has yet to be announced.
Illinois State will begin its spring season Feb. 6-8, 2009, at the South Florida Tournament in Tampa, Fla. The Redbirds' first home game at Marian Kneer Softball Stadium is slated for Saturday, March 14, 2009, against Missouri Valley Conference foe Bradley.
