(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)
The Athletic Department at Missouri Southern State University will host its 2017 Fall Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 26, at Fred G. Hughes Stadium, celebrating the start of the fall sports season and naming the athletics administration suite for a pioneer in women’s athletics.
Fans will be entertained by the MSSU cheerleading squad and marching band, and have the chance to get schedule posters autographed by team members. The Lions’ football team will hold a public practice starting at 7 p.m. Inflatables will be available for kids, and food trucks will be on hand in front of the stadium.
The university will dedicate the Sallie Beard Athletics Administration Suite at 6:15 p.m. in the North End Zone Facility.
Beard served Missouri Southern State University for 37 years before her retirement in 2009. She single-handedly created women’s athletics at Missouri Southern when she started the first women’s sports teams, serving as head coach of basketball, softball, tennis, and track and field. For 25 years, she was the women’s athletic director. In 2001, she was named the first athletic director to oversee both the men’s and women’s athletic programs at MSSU.
In 2014, she was awarded the Nike Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators. She is a member of the Missouri Southern State University Athletics Hall of Fame, Joplin Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2010 she was inducted into the inaugural class of the MIAA Hall of Fame.
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