More than a 'nice lady'

In his Dec. 21 article, sports writer Jim O'Donnell applauded Bob Frisk for his contribution to high school sports for over 50 years while casually dismissing a woman who helped change the face of girls' high school sports in Illinois after the passage of Title IX and whose name can now be found on the Prospect High School Field House.

O'Donnell says, "So they named the field house after a nice lady named Jean Walker. She had been a teacher and coach at PHS during the advent of Title IX." Your article was not only sexist, but demeaning to a woman who is responsible for thousands of girls -- including my three daughters - having a better experience playing sports in Illinois.

I have gone to church with Jean Walker for a few years and can attest to her being a "nice lady." As the co-mission elder at Southminster Presbyterian Church, she gives thousands of hours of her time, as well as her talent and treasure, each year to nonprofits serving the poor across Chicagoland. But her "niceness" is not why she became the first woman in Illinois to have a high school field house named after her. A 2012 Daily Herald article said Jean played "an integral role both for her school and for the Illinois High School Association in steering girls sports onto a more even par with the boys."

Jean served as Prospect's girls athletic director from the early 1970s until she retired in 2000. Jean also served as girls state tennis tournament director for 22 years. After retiring, she volunteered for nearly 10 years with the student leadership program she founded as athletic director. The Jean Walker Field House was so named to honor all her amazing accomplishments. And no one - not even Bob Frisk - deserves this more.

Cindy Greenwood

Arlington Heights