Growing up in Western New York, Amy Moritz can’t remember a time when she wasn’t an avid follower of women’s sports. She served as manager of her high school women’s basketball team, often calling in game results to local media outlets. She pursued sports writing, a career that included nearly 20 years at the Buffalo News. While frequently called upon to chronicle local women’s sports, she came to an important conclusion.
“I realized that there's a there's a real rich part of our history that kind of is vanishing because the people who played it or know about it, they're getting older,” Moritz shared during a recent interview on the campus of Saint Bonaventure University, her alma mater, where she now serves as Professional In Residence in Sports Media.
“There's a whole history there that I didn't want to get lost to a footnote in a media guide somewhere.”
Now, working in conjunction with Saint Bonaventure, Moritz has started herstoryWNY, an oral history project that is gathering the firsthand remembrances of some of the region’s greatest female athletes. As of our interview date, the stories of 21 local athletes, coaches and administrators have been recorded and posted.
“Some women are very up-front about the challenges that they faced,” Moritz said of the stories that have been shared.
“There were challenges. But then they ended up working through.”
Some of her initial subjects are Hall-of-Fame Coach Tara VanDerveer, the graduate of Buffalo Seminary who turned the Stanford women’s basketball program into a powerhouse, winning three national championships; Sally Kus, the Sweet Home High School volleyball coach whose women’s teams set a national record for consecutive wins; Yvette Angel, the basketball star at Sacred Heart Academy who earned All-American honors at Ohio State.
“I'm definitely getting an appreciation for how good they were at the time. I think that's something that gets overlooked.”
As for the depths the project will mine, Moritz sees no limit. She’s seeking stories from all sports, from softball to figure skating. An outreach form has been posted to share information on potential subjects.
“I would like, just love, to be able to fill out with as much diversity as possible to make it as inclusive as we can.”
