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Monta Potter (1969)

Name
Monta Potter
Class
1969
Category
HoF Lifetime Achievement
Induction Year
2016

Monta was the second of five Potter children to attend and graduate from R.A. Long High School.  Playing in the days before Title IX, she was a standout in volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming and softball.  Monta attended the University of Washington, where she continued to dominate in sports.  She was a four-year starting center, leading scorer and Team Captain of the Huskies’ Women’s Basketball Team, as well as a four-year starter on the volleyball team.  Because UW had no softball team, she continued to star in regional softball tournaments and taught tennis and swimming at the Longview YMCA during the summers.  If there had been a WNBA in the 1970’s, Monta would certainly have played in it.  She graduated from UW with a BA in Athletic Administration.  She went on to get an MA in Athletic Administration from the University of Oregon and her MA in Public Administration from Golden State University.  Professionally, Monta has a long list of credits:  Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at University of Washington; Head Women’s Basketball Coach, University of Puget Sound; Assistant Athletic Director, University of Oregon; Assistant Director, Eugene Youth Sports Program and Regional Director, Girl Scouts of  America.  A quote from one of her brothers, “I had the sense that my sister was a true pioneer in women’s sports never a crusader, but always an advocate”.  He never heard her complain about traveling in team vans up and down the West Coast, or buying her own shoes, or starring at the major college level without a penny of scholarship money.  She simply loved the games she played and then coached.  She’s always enjoyed creating opportunity as an administrator and executive for others to enjoy similar privileges.  In 2007 the University of Washington held a ceremony entitled Celebrating our Heritage of Women in Athletics.  Honoring women from 1900 up to and including the 1970’s and Monta was one of those women to be honored.  Monta is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.  Her current games are golf and water polo.