In 1949, Refiners Pride, the local gas station at Randolph Street and Belvidere Avenue, sponsored the local girls basketball team. The Proviso girls featured here included Norma Berger, who was known for her pitching in the All-American Girls Baseball League during the 1950 season for the Springfield Sallies. Her older sister, Barbara, played for the Chicago Colleens and the Racine Belles, and the two were the inspiration for the story of the sisters who are depicted in the 1992 film, A League of Their Own, although they never played against each other in the league.
Jill Wagner
The Refiners Pride girls played the Welco Oil girls in an opener game starting the benefit night held at Proviso fieldhouse recently, which starred the Globetrotter team. Pictured here are Elenor Frank, Carol Hydam, Shirley Hein, Norma Berger and Anata Parlemo. Dec. 22, 1949 Forest Park Review archives
