08.08.1921 – 30.12.2019
The Hockey Museum (THM), along with the sporting world, is mourning the passing of Betty Shellenberger, 98. Betty was a legend in American field hockey and lacrosse through much of the 1900s. Known to friends as ‘Shelly’, she first picked up a hockey stick at the age of ten and by eighteen was selected for the national team as their youngest ever player. Betty went on to represent the USA for twenty-one years from 1939 to 1955 with one further appearance in 1960. It is a record for USA Field Hockey that stands to this day.
Betty was also a talented Lacrosse player, representing the USA in this second sport for eleven years. She became President of both hockey and lacrosse national associations.
Not just a talented player, Betty was long-standing umpire and a tireless supporter and administrator at all levels of hockey, including Secretary of the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations (IFWHA), the world governing body for women’s hockey. Sharon Taylor, former President of USA Field Hockey and a supporter of THM told us:
“Shelly was the ‘face’ of the USFHA to the hockey world beyond the US, but her contributions to, and associations with, a host of sport and civic organizations, as a participant and as a leader, were legendary. One of my clearest and more recent memories of Shelly was in Moscow in 2008; she was at the same gate that I was to get on a plane to Kazan for the Olympic Qualifier for the Beijing Games. The officials at the airport were not going to allow Shelly to board as they were concerned about her age! My travel companions thought we should help. I assured them that the Russian officials had no idea with whom they were dealing! And, shortly after, the plane took off with all of us on board!
Betty Shellenberger was one of the women who must be remembered in the annals of women’s sport in the United States as one who made that pursuit possible for tens of thousands of other girls and women. No job was too big or too insignificant for Shelly to take it on in the many sports she served. Shelly was a remarkable athlete, official, administrator, and benefactor; she stands in the minds of so many of us, along with her good friend and mentor Constance Applebee, as a treasured foremother of field hockey.”
Betty visited the UK on many occasions, playing against England during the IFWHA World Tournament at Folkestone in 1953 where, despite her formidable presence in the USA team, England ran out 2-1 winners. Former England player, Nan Williams (nee Morgan), first met her in 1961 when England toured the USA as well as at the IFWHA tournament in 1963:
“She really was a larger than life character and was always welcoming and encouraging. A remarkable lady.”
Former England international player, coach and selector, Freda Walker writes:
“It is sad to hear of Shelley’s death. She was such a mainstay of US Field Hockey. We first met in 1961 as players and saw each other frequently over the years. When I last spoke with her in 2017, in her care home, she still sought news of past coaches and umpires from England. Such devotion will be hard to match.”
Over the years, Shelly made many more friends on this side of the Atlantic and they will all miss her.
A full tribute can be found on the USA Field Hockey website here.
Katie Dodd, 7 January 2020.
