Alice Putnam Willetts (February 6, 1926 – June 6, 2020), previously Alice Putnam, and sometimes known by the nickname "Putty", was an American

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

player and coach. She played on the U.S. women's national field hockey team from 1946 to 1955 and was in the first class of inductees into the U.S. Field Hockey Association Hall of Fame.

Early years

She was born in

Ridley, Pennsylvania Ridley Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 30,768 at the 2010 census. Ridley Township contains the census designated places of Folsom and Woodlyn along with the unincorporated communities of Crum Lynne a ...

on February 6, 1926. She graduated from

Swarthmore High School Swarthmore High School was a four-year public high school in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania serving the Boroughs of Swarthmore and Rutledge. History Swarthmore established its own independent school district when Swarthmore Borough incorporated in 18 ...

in 1943. She played four years of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, lacrosse, and field hockey at Swarthmore High. She next attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

where she competed in field hockey,

, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. She graduated from Temple magna cum laude in 1947. She also introduced lacrosse to Temple and served as the school's lacrosse coach for three years.

Field hockey career and honors

She was a member of the United States national field hockey team in 1946 and remained a member of the national team for nine years through 1955. She was also a member of the United States national women's lacrosse team for 12 years. Professionally, she taught and held other positions at a variety of educational institutions, including Swarthmore High School, Swarthmore College, Shipley School at Bryn Mawr, and Stath Haven High School. In 1988, she became one of the charter inductees into the

USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame The USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame honors the achievements of sportsperson, athletes and/or Coach (sports), coaches of USA field hockey teams. The permanent home of USA Field Hockey's hall of fame is located at Ursinus College#Athletics, Ursinus Coll ...

. She was also inducted into the

National Lacrosse Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, is located in Sparks, Maryland at the USA Lacrosse headquarters. Prior to moving to its present location in 2016, the hall of fame and museum was located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Homewood campu ...

in 1998 and the Temple University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977.

Later years

After retiring, she became active in community affairs in

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Swarthmore ( , ) is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Swarthmore was originally named "Westdale" in honor of noted painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to "Swarthmore" after the es ...

, and founded the Swarthmore Senior Citizens Association. She died on June 6, 2020 at age 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willetts, Alice Putnam American female field hockey players Lacrosse players from Pennsylvania 1924 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American women