Betty Yahr - Athletic Alumna 2012

Betty Yahr graduated from Ann Arbor High School in 1941.  She was a member of the Girls Athletic Club and participated in baseball, hockey, volleyball, and basketball.  She was awarded a varsity letter, and was also voted Most Athletic Woman in high school.  Betty went on to be part of several State Championship teams in amateur women’s baseball in the mid-1940s.  She was scouted to play professionally in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and signed to play for the Rockford Peaches as a right fielder in 1945.  After playing professional ball, Betty played for a local semi-pro team and several recreational teams.  She also coached high school and recreational baseball.  Betty was later one of the first women to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.  When asked what advice she had for young women who wanted to become pro ballplayers, Betty answered, “Develop the confidence and do it!”  Betty’s family says that participating in athletics at Ann Arbor High School “nurtured her spirit for women in athletics.”