SIT DOWN WITH STEVE: Barbara Caywood Among First Female Sports Journalist in U.S.
By Space Coast Daily // May 24, 2019
THE SPACE COAST DAILY – FRIDAY NIGHT LOCKER ROOM TEAM IS BREVARD'S #1 SPORTS SORCE
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: The Friday Night Locker Room’s Steve Wilson, in the latest edition of “Sit Down With Steve,” talks with former sportswriter Barbara Caywood. Capping a 46-year career in journalism, she retired in 2005 after covering generations of student-athletes and breaking down barriers as one of the first female sports writing professionals in America.
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Induction Video Profile – Few have accomplished in their life as much as Barbara Simmers Caywood. Capping a 46-year career in journalism, she retired in 2005 after covering generations of student-athletes and breaking down barriers as one of the first female sports writing professionals in America.
BARBARA CAYWOOD: SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME 2013 INDUCTEE – SPORTS JOURNALISM CATEGORY
Caywood thrust into the national spotlight when she was refused admittance into the KU football press box in the 1960s
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA (Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame) – Few have accomplished in their life as much as Brevard County resident Barbara Simmers Caywood.
Capping a 46-year career in journalism, she retired in 2005 after covering generations of student-athletes and breaking down barriers as one of the first female sports writing professionals in America.
Her accomplishments in sports journalism made her eminently worthy of induction into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
Growing up in Harrisonburg, Va., Barbara fell in love with sports and decided to pursue a career that blended a passion for writing and competition with her unique ability to tell the story of athletes from a personal perspective.
Accompanying her father to a few Washington Redskins professional football games piqued her interest in the sport, and inspired her to learn the rules and as much as she could about the sport.
Her family moved to Florida in 1951 when her father took a job as an accountant for the Growers Container Company and graduated from Ocala High School in 1955.
Her next stop was Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she earned her degree in journalism in 1959.
Her first job after college was as the sports editor of her hometown newspaper at the Ocala Star-Banner for a year. The work was everything and more than she expected from a newspaper career.
She learned the newspaper business from the ground up, covering every sport imaginable and meeting customary deadlines.
FIRST FEMALE SPORTS WRITER IN FLORIDA
When an opportunity presented itself in 1960 to relocate to Kansas for a position as the assistant sports editor of the Hutchinson News, she decided to accept the job and move west.
Covering Hutchinson athletics was a joy for Barbara, and through her association with so many families and students in the community, she came to appreciate the sacrifices many parents make to help their children play youth sports.
Her daily stories championed the achievements of youth athletes and kept the public informed about their activities and dreams for the future.
However, she covered much more than youth and prep sports. Hutchinson was the home of the National Junior College Athletic Association Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament and afforded Barbara the opportunity to expand her horizons.
She covered the event like few ever had before and made a name for herself as someone who knew college athletics inside and out.
As an established credible source for information about university athletics, she was given the coveted assignment to cover Kansas University sports for the paper.
The 1960s in America heralded the beginning of gender attitude and status changes and Barbara found herself in the thick of things – soon being thrust into the national spotlight when she was refused admittance into the KU football press box to cover a game because she was a woman.
She was, in fact, the first legitimate member of the working media to be barred from the press box by school officials, and also the last member of the working media to be barred by the school based on gender bias because of the furor that ensued.
The next time she knocked on the Kansas University press box door, they let her in.
Through sheer perseverance, she overcame years of male dominance in sports writing, spent the next 24 years relating the stories of athletes and coaches in the Jayhawk State, and holds the distinction as the first female sportswriter in the states of Kansas and Florida, and only the third in the nation.
LIVING LEGEND WITH COACHES & PLAYERS
In 1984, Barbara ventured back to Florida becoming the prep sports editor at Florida Today.
For the next 21 years, she lavished her attention on prep sports in Brevard and through relationships based on mutual respect and admiration became a living legend to coaches, school administrators, players and their families.
Her son, Kurt Caywood, also became a sportswriter and like his mother has enjoyed a long career in journalism.
During her distinguished career, she was recognized as the 1986 National AAU Media Person of the Year and received the 2001 Bob Davis Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to High School Football and the 2003 Hartwell Conklin Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to High School Track & Field.
She was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Florida Track and Field Assn. Hall of Fame in 2009.
THE 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on Friday, May 8.
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT the 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME, call 321-615-8111 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com
CLICK HERE to see all the members of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.
