Alice Keene
“In Senior Games, one of my absolute greatest joys of all these years has been to see women fulfill their dream. Playing on a softball team, on a basketball team, competing in table tennis or cornhole. Something many of them never had a chance to do.”
Alice Keene is the retired Director for Community Schools and Recreation so wellness was part of her entire career. She has received numerous awards for her decades of outstanding service including the Title IX Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award, the George L Maddox Award and the Outstanding Alumni Award from the ECU School of Health and Human Performance. Alice has been involved with North Carolina Senior Games since its inception in 1983. She alternates between playing and assistant coaching for Greenville-Pitt’s women’s softball team, the Ole Rascals. “Being able to be involved in the development of the Senior Games program in the state of North Carolina that's been one of my absolute greatest blessings, both personally and professionally.”
Alice was always an athletic and outdoorsy child. “When I was growing up, I wanted to play sports so bad, and in my little town there was just nothing for girls. It's not like I could have walked up and said ‘hey, you can't deny me from playing’ like after Title IX.” She counted down the days until she could play JV basketball in school in the 8th grade - JV and Varsity basketball were the only sports offered to girls. “Today at 3 years old little girls can play soccer. They're out there on a team, feeling great and getting a lot of physical activity just chasing the ball,” she says, “At 5 and 6 they're playing basketball and volleyball. I often look back at my life and say ‘Good gracious, what kind of athlete could I have been if I started playing at 5 years old!’ “
Alice says she’s grateful for the changes Title IX has brought, even beyond the sports world. But she also recognizes there is still more work to be done. “You know, we're a long way from where we need to be, but we've also made a lot of progress over the last 50 years.”