The Route 65 Motorcycle Grannies basketball team was formed in November of 2007 and we have our practices at the Irving Elementary gym or the Middle School Gym in Indianola. The team was an idea of mine back in August of 2007, when I was a member of one of the Des Moines teams, the CarX Strutters. But, wanting to play a little closer to home, I began scouting around for players, a gym and a sponsor. Getting the sponsorship was pretty easy, thanks to Dave Rosenberg and the other Harley-Davidson shop owners! But finding a gym and the players took a lot more work than I anticipated. After months of distributing posters, business cards, dozens of e-mails and phone calls and talking to businesses around town, it all came together in November when our first practice yielded just a few team members at our first practice. Soon the team had 5 members, then 7, and now it’s an 10-member team and we are still recruiting players! The ideal size for a Granny Basketball team is 12-15 players since substitutions are frequently made during games.
The Motorcycle Grannies team is made up of women from Indianola, New Virginia, Prairie City, Norwalk and the south side of Des Moines. Many of us have high school experience playing the sport, and some have very little experience, but that doesn’t stop us from exhibiting our ‘talents’ on the court. Our team’s theme song is “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf and used during the team’s entrances to the gymnasiums at games, especially the fundraiser/exhibition games. Our team colors are black and orange and we sport the orange socks, headbands and pom-poms and if you ever watch one of our games you will see that we have a great deal of fun on this league!
But this isn’t just an ordinary basketball league. It’s for women 50 years old and older with our oldest league member in the state being 83 years old—and her sister, who also plays, is 80! We use the 1920’s women’s six-on-six basketball rules, some of which are slightly modified to compliment our physical abilities. No running, jumping or bodily contact is allowed nor is a player allowed to dribble the ball more than twice per possession. The game is played on a 3-zone court: offense (forwards), centers and defense (guards) zones. The designated players for each area must remain in their zones and the game involves more of passing the ball from zone to zone than moving with the ball. That’s the hard part, not being able to dribble our way out of our zones!!
The team also wears the basketball uniform of the 1920s era that consists of tennis shoes, middy blouses, black bloomers and stockings or tights to cover the legs. We also wear the ‘sailor’ style collars tied in front. There is a strict ‘flesh’ rule that forbids any skin to show except for the face, neck and forearms (below the elbow). Should any skin happen to appear during a game other than the allowed portions, a technical foul can be called against that player.
The Motorcycle Grannies are just one of 12 teams in Iowa belonging to the Granny Basketball League, Inc., that was formed in 2005 by Barb McPherson of Lansing, Iowa. What began as a weekly form of exercise with a small group of middle-aged women quickly evolved into a well organized league that has grown to over 160 members. There are now a total of 17 teams in the league with 4 of them from Louisiana and 2 from Minnesota and rest right here in Iowa. We have had a great deal of media coverage locally and nationally and look forward to more states joining the league.
The Granny Basketball teams play primarily for exercise, fun, and camaraderie. We not only participate in fundraisers (having helped raise over $40,000 in the past 4 years for charities and organizations) but we also play scheduled league games from January to May and an annual state tournament each year. We have participated in pre-game and half-time shows at games that include the Harlem Globetrotters, the NWBA and ISU., UNI, and some local high school games. We have plans to participate in many more college events as well. We have also participated in the Iowa State Fair parade as well as many local parades.
If you know of any ladies over the age of 50 who may be interested in this “gentle game for women of a certain age” and who may still have dreams of one day competing in a state tournament, contact me at (515) 961-6164.
Much thanks to the Route 65 Harley Davidson Shop for providing equipment, T-shirts, patches, and our league registration fees, for which the team players appreciate greatly! The shop has been a great sponsor for us and we appreciate all they do.
We will die with our tennies on!!