Coach Mary Tousignant, age 85, passed away on Saturday, October 19, 2024, in Winona, MN.
Mary Tousignant was the first women’s coach for Melrose Track, Volleyball, Basketball, and Cheerleading. Unafraid to push boundaries and empower others, Mary Tousignant was an example of a life dedicated to the success of others. Born and raised in an era when girls sports didn’t exist, Mary began teaching girls sports before coaching was a dream. Told girls could not play sports, Mary didn’t listen.
In the beginning, Mary, who wanted to give her basketball girls a chance to compete, called a college classmate to see if she could get eight girls together to play basketball. Mary rented a van, got ‘her’ girls in the van and drove the athletes to her friend’s school. They needed to wait until the gym was open after hours because the women could not rent or reserve gym space. There, the girls were only allowed to play half-court basketball, because “full-court would be too taxing.” The girls played hard in their skirts and tennis shoes on the half-courts! Opposing teams allowed the Melrose girls to stay at their homes because there was no budget available for girls sports. Mary was Title IX, long before Title IX existed.
Title IX, is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives funding from the federal government. Title IX allowed girls to compete in athletics. Before this law was passed, girls in Melrose Schools were part of the Girls Athletic Association, or GAA. Click here for GAA photos on our TouchPro Site.
In 1971-72, Melrose had its first Girls Track & Field Team, with Mary Tousignant as the coach. The girls did not receive priority gym time, meaning some days the girls ran in the high school hallways. Coach Toursignant didn’t let anything keep her from training the girls.
When Coach Tousignant first coached basketball, there was a time she had the gym reserved for the girl’s team, and the boys basketball team needed it, too. The boys entered the gym during practice expecting the girls to step aside, but Coach Tousignant held strong, refusing to take her girls off the court. Coach Tousignant may not have made friends with the faculty that day, but her girls were witness to greatness.
Coach Mary Tousignant spent 36 years coaching Basketball, Volleyball, Track & Cheerleading at Melrose Area Schools. More than sports, Coach Tousignant empowered young women, leading and loving all those she had the opportunity to coach. Athletes were held to a high standard, believed in, pushed, yelled at, and empowered to greatness. Coach Tousignant instilled self-worth, the value of hard work, fearlessness and pride. Most of all Coach Tousignant liked to see her girls WIN! Coaching was her passion, and in her spare time, she was a referee.
Over the years, Coach Tousignant had many state track athletes and years and years of success! The 1979 trip to the Girls Basketball State Championship as a small school was one of Coach Tousignant's best experiences. There, the girls took 3rd Place.
Coach Mary Tousignant’s girls saw first hand, when the world tells you ‘no,’ you figure out how to get to a ‘yes.’ For Coach Tousinant, this meant running in the high school hallways, competing in swimsuits with zippers, driving athletes in her personal car to events, and even dropping them off at their houses! Nobody stopped Coach Tousinant from helping others be extraordinary! Thank you, Coach!
Article Contributors: Charlie Forbes & Jonathan Ruoff
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