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Phyllis Huxfore, 78, of Des Moines, Iowa, prepares to put the ball back into play during granny basketball practice in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007. [AP]
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Playing basketball isn't ladylike. That's what Jewell Chapman's high school principal told her in 1961 when he banned the girls basketball program.
"We were very frustrated," said Chapman, a forward for her high school team of Des Moines.
Nearly 50 years later, Chapman is back on the court. She's 62 and plays for the Hot Pink Grannies, joining about 10 other women on a team whose uniforms are black bloomers and hot pink socks. They play in the Iowa Granny Basketball League.
It's one of dozens of basketball leagues for women over 50 that have sprung up across the country. For some, it's an opportunity to exercise and socialize; for others, it's a once-denied chance to compete.
"You see more and more senior women's teams participating in state and national competitions," said Michael Rogers, an associate professor in sports studies at Wichita State University. "In the future it will be commonplace1 to have leagues like this."
Annual surveys by the National Sporting Goods Association indicate the number of women 55 and older who play basketball at least 50 times a year has grown from 16,000 in 1995 to nearly 131,000 a decade later.
The women on the Hot Pink Grannies are good-natured but competitive2 when game time comes.
"I think I'm tough," says Hot Pink Granny Colleen Pulliam, 69, flexing3 her biceps at opponents in a game against the Strutters, known for their brilliant yellow socks.
Granny Basketball Leagues and similar groups are scattered4 through much of the country, including California, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
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打篮球可不是女孩干的事，这是1961年尤厄尔·查普曼的中学校长对她说的话，当年这位校长可是“封杀”了学校的女子篮球队。
曾任戴斯莫尼斯中学校队前锋的查普曼说：“这让我们感到很失落。”
然而，50年后，查普曼又回到了球场上。今年62岁的她现在在爱荷华州“奶奶篮球联盟”的“桃红奶奶”队“效力”。“桃红奶奶”队由11名队员组成，队员们统一穿黑色灯笼裤和桃红色球袜。
近年来，美国出现了一大批由50岁以上女性组成的篮球联盟。对于有些人来说，这只是个锻炼身体和进行社会交往的机会；而对于其他一些人来说，这可是个重温“旧梦”的机会。
威奇托州立大学从事体育研究的副教授迈克尔·罗格斯说：“参加州际比赛和国家级比赛的老年女队越来越多，今后此类的篮球联盟将会越来越普遍。”
据美国国家体育用品协会的年度调查显示，一年至少打50次篮球的55岁及55岁以上的女性数量从1995年的16000人增加到了10年后的近131000人。
“桃红奶奶”队的队员性情温和，但在比赛中都很具竞争力。
69岁的队员考琳·普廉姆在比赛中向穿着清一色艳黄袜子的对手“阔步者”队炫耀自己的肱二头肌，她说：“我觉得自己很强壮。”
类似“奶奶篮球联盟”的篮球组织遍布美国各个地区，其中包括加利福尼亚、康涅狄格、路易斯安那、新墨西哥、北卡罗来纳、宾夕法尼亚和首都华盛顿。
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