Ruby Miller (1986) - Hall of Fame

Ruby Miller

Induction:
1986
Class:
1938

A pioneer in women's competitive sports, Ruby Miller has been called the foremost innovator in interscholastic girls' athletics in the state of Colorado, but she got her start in Iowa. A graduate of Spencer High School in 1934 where her first competition was in softball, she continued her 'playing days' at Iowa State Teachers College in intramurals from 1934-38.

She began her coaching career at the Iowa School for the Deaf. After stops at several other schools, she landed at Adams City (Colo.) High School, coaching volleyball, basketball and track from 1956 until her retirement in 1976. She actually started the competitive volleyball and basketball programs in that school's league. She organized the first and second girls state track meets in the early 1960s when it had to be held in conjunction with the AAU. When track became a recognized sport for girls in Colorado, she hosted the first three state meets. Her teams in all three sports never lost a conference championship.

Among her other awards, she was selected for the cover photo of the first issues of the Colorado Women's Coaches Association Magazine (1970); was recognized by the National Organization for Women in 1973 as one of the leading women in the state for establishing a policy of equal pay for coaching; and was the first woman inducted into the Colorado Women's Coaches Hall of Fame in 1979. In 1978, during the Iowa High School Girls state basketball tournament, she was awarded the first "First Lady Award" given by the Iowa Girls Athletic Union.