Emporia State University Athletics

Doris Lea Plarski is a pioneer in the administration of the entire spectrum of college athletics, especially the promotion of women in administrative roles. Plarski earned recognition as the first women president of the National Junior College Athletics Association, having been elected to that position in 1990. She also was the first woman to coach men’s varsity tennis among junior colleges in the NJCAA’s Region XVI between 1972 and the present.  She was selected to travel with an international team of American women basketball players to Asia.  With that selection, she became the first woman referee ever selected to do so. Plarski also was the first woman elected to the FIBA Central Board for International Basketball. She officiated the very first women’s basketball game at the Olympic National Sports Festival and was also a member of the 1980 Olympic basketball staff. Through her role as an administrator, Plarski has developed philosophies instrumental in the administration of championships for the NJCAA’s 15 women’s sports. Plarski graduated from ESU in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.  She also earned a master’s degree from ESU and a specialists degree in secondary education from Southern Illinois University.