SHAWANO, WI- Homecoming weekend means a new class getting inducted into the Shawano Hall of Fame. In 2021, there are three athletes and for the first time, a group of coaches getting inducted.
“MATTY” JANIS MATHISON
“Matty” Janis Mathison was a successful coach and pioneer for women’s athletics at Shawano High School. Matty’s passion for women’s sport is captured in her statement, “God Bless Title IX”.
Matty grew up in Winchester, WI, and graduated from Winneconne High School. She attended Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN, and played collegiate athletics. She brought her love for sports to Shawano when she joined the staff at Shawano High School in 1969 as a Health and Physical Education teacher. She was driven to provide opportunities for young women to grow and develop through high school sports. She advocated, lobbied, and fought, and she deserves credit for the initiation of the entire women’s interscholastic athletic program at SCHS.
“I believe I was good trouble because they typically means that you are trying to improve a situation,” Mathison said. She said that the idea of bringing female sports to the district was meant with quite a bit of resistance. “It meant more funding, but I did not think that women should just be sitting on the sidelines.”
Matty established and coached track & field for twelve seasons and had 16 athletes qualify for state competition. She also established and coached the volleyball team for 25 seasons. In that tenure, her team’s won seven conference championships. She led Shawano to appearances in five state tournaments, including a State Championship in the first-ever women’s volleyball state tournament in 1974 and a second State Championship in 1988.
“When we came back to Shawano that first year, we had a few parents waiting in the parking lot. When we won the State Championship in 1988, the parking lot was full, the gym was full and there was a 57 car caravan that met us in Bonduel so the admiration and respect for women’s sports really grew.”
She coached a State Runner-up finish in 1987 and finished with more than 1000 career volleyball wins and a .700 winning percentage. She served on the WIAA Volleyball Advisory Committee from 1987-89, and she was selected by the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association to coach the first All-State Volleyball team in 1987. In 1991, she was inducted into the Augsburg College Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2012 she was inducted into the WVCA Hall of Fame.
“Those accomplishments were done by lots of people including many female athletes who helped establish the fact that the attributes that are important for males when it comes to athletics are also important for females.”
Matty’s positive influence on young people extended beyond athletics. She earned the Herb Kohl Teacher of the Year award in 1993 and Disney’s American Teacher Award Top 12 in 1998. In 2000, she was recognized as the Shawano Distinguished Citizen of the Year. Matty continues to be a community leader and volunteer through numerous projects and initiatives today.
“I have former athletes that have gone into coaching and are just carrying on that dream of what that little white volleyball does for people’s lives.”
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