Hall of Fame
Following a heralded career at East Stroudsburg University, where she was a standout member of the field hockey, basketball and tennis teams, Patricia Zimmerman was a member of the U.S. National Field Hockey team for five years and the reserve team for three years all the while obtaining a master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a doctorate from the University of Iowa.
Prior to accepting a position in the Slippery Rock physical education department in 1961, Zimmerman coached basketball and field hockey in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.
At Slippery Rock, Zimmerman led the field hockey program for 20 seasons before spending her final decade at Slippery Rock focusing squarely on being a faculty member. Zimmerman holds the impeccable distinction of recording 18 consecutive winning seasons.
In guiding Slippery Rock field hockey into varsity competition, The inaugural varsity season culminated in an eighth-place finish at the 16-team Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships. During her time at Slippery Rock, Zimmerman coached three student-athletes who would play on the U.S. National Team.
Zimmerman’s experience playing on the U.S. National Team helped her provide Slippery Rock with a unique perspective that focused more on competition and less on recreation, a stark contrast to the general outlook on women’s athletics at the time.
“Having been on the U.S. team, I had a different outlook as to how sports should be played,” Zimmerman told ROCK Magazine in 2009.
Like so many others, Zimmerman served on the front lines of the early fight for equality following the initial passage of Title IX. She served as the director of SRU’s initiative for equal opportunity which investigated how the school stood in regard to Title IX at the time.
“The fellows were so used to getting what they needed for their teams that it was difficult for them to share facilities and equipment in the beginning,” Zimmerman said. “It was my job to remind them that just meeting the requirements wasn’t enough. It also meant providing women’s athletics with quality staff, transportation and facilities.”
