[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO GIRLS' BASKETBALL COACH DOROTHY GATERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as we continue with the 
celebration of Women's History Month, I am reminded of the fact that it 
takes great teachers to make great schools.
  I rise today to recognize one of the great female coaches of girl 
basketball of all time, Coach Dorothy Gaters. Coach Gaters coaches the 
Lady Commandoes, a Marshall High School girls basketball team on the 
West Side of Chicago, located in the Seventh Congressional District.
  Dorothy Gaters graduated from Marshall High School in 1964, and went 
on to attend DePaul University, where she graduated with a Bachelor's 
Degree in 1968. She received her Master's Degree from Governor State 
University and began teaching at Marshall High School in 1969.
  Coach Gaters has not rewritten but has simply written the record book 
when it comes to girls' basketball in the State of Illinois. Coach 
Gaters has been coaching in the Chicago Public League at Marshall High 
School since 1976.
  During this time, she has won six State titles, three State runner-
ups, three third places, and three fourth places in State tournaments. 
She currently holds eight State records: 17 tournament appearances, 15 
AA tournaments, nine title game appearances, 13 class AA consecutive 
tournament appearances, and three consecutive title game appearances, 
to name a few. In 22 years, Coach Gaters has a record of 619 wins. No 
other coach in Illinois has even 500 victories in girls' basketball.

                              {time}  1815

  No other coach has been in as many State tournament final games as 
her nine, or won as many titles as her six. Her team has played more 
games, won more games, and even lost more games in the Elite Eight than 
anyone else's in girl's basketball history. Of the 14 girl tournament 
coaching records, Coach Gaters owns 10 of them outright and is tied 
with Teutopolis's Dennis Koester two other categories.
  Before girls basketball was sanctioned by the Illinois High School 
Association, Coach Gaters was there from the beginning when young women 
who loved the game could compete only in clubs and intramural contests. 
She and her teams grew with the sport and today it is as fully 
recognized as any boys' sport, with its own State championship. And all 
along, the Lady Commandos were role models of excellence and 
perseverance and an inspiration to all the other teams.
  Coach Gaters' response to all the numbers and all the fawning is 
consistent with her straightforward approach in coaching: ``It says I 
have been around a long time. I care about it because it will be a 
victory, not necessarily because it is number 597. I have never really 
been one to count the games.''
  Mr. Speaker, we both know that the Illinois High School Association 
counts, and it listed the Marshall coach with 597 victories against 70 
losses entering this, her 23rd season as coach. That was then. Today it 
is 619 wins to 70 losses. And according to the national high school 
statistics, Coach Gaters ranks among the top 20 coaches of all time in 
number of victories. She was inducted into the Illinois Basketball 
Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1996, and while her basketball team 
is nothing short of amazing, they have also succeeded academically. 
Ninety-five percent of the players who started with Coach Gaters went 
to colleges and/or universities. Over three fourths of them have 
graduated. Several of Coach Gaters' former players are now coaches at 
various institutions. Marie Christian coaches at California-Berkeley; 
Kimberly McQuarter at Chicago State University; Trinette Wright is an 
assistant coach at Chicago State University; and Jennifer Jones coaches 
at Manley High School.
  Other players went on to play in the Women's National Basketball 
Association. Kim Williams plays for the Utah STARZZ; Toni Foster is 
with the Phoenix-MERCURY; and Janet Harris plays for the Charlotte 
STING.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Coach Dorothy Gaters and the Lady 
Commandos of Marshall High School who have demonstrated that academic 
excellence coupled with athletic prowess is the order of the day.

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