Profiles of students have always found a place in The Globe and always will. But this profile on Sue Regan, a class of 1983 journalism and communications major, might be one of the more interesting examples archived.
If anyone were to approach sophomore journalism and communications major Sue Regan with the spur of the moment quip, “Have you lost your marbles?” she would more than likely smile proudly and reply, “No, they’re at home in my top dresser drawer.”
Why the absurd retort? Because she might at the time be associating the “marbles” mentioned with the ones used in her younger years to claim national and world titles.
Regan proved her marble-shooting superiority in June 1974 when at 13, she won a $500 college scholarship in the Girl’s National Marble Championship in Wildwood, NJ. Taught and coached by Walter Lease, director of the Allegheny County marble program at Leslie Park, Lawrenceville, she defeated a field of 33 contestants to win the national title.
But that was only the beginning. In 1975 and 1976, Regan than became one of the six U.S. team members that took the World marble shooting championship title in the Sussex, England competition. The British tournament has taken place every Good Friday for the past 200 years.
“They shoot different in England,” Regan began. “The British play on a six-foot circle with a sand-covered surface. There, 49 marbles are clustered in the middle and the object is to get 25 out of the ring to win. In the United States, the game is played on concrete with only 13 marbles arranged in an ‘X’ pattern in a 12-foot circle. Here, the object is to get seven out of the ring.”
Interestingly, Regan encountered a bit of resentment from the British players, as she was the only female competitor.
“They wouldn’t let me shoot when we got there. They were pig-headed about it,” she said.
But that didn’t stop the champ from helping her team (ages ranging 14 to 20) for two consecutive years beat the British Toucan Terribles, (ages ranging 29 to 64) who previously boasted of their world championship status.
Yet, according to Regan, who also is minoring in cinematography, winning titles and trophies was only one aspect of her “tournament education.” Traveling with her coach, teammates and chaperone, while her parents remained at home, was a valuable learning experience in itself.
“I’m glad I did it,” she affirmed. “At that age, being alone and independent, I learned to take care of myself.”
Regan, an avid music lover and bass guitarist, is also one of PPC’s female basketball stars.
Enthusiastically, she commented on her confidence in the team’s future success. “The basketball program is in its infancy, but it’s going places. For the third year, the girls’ team is doing fairly well . . . We’re going to take off.”
And if Regan has, in the slightest bit, as much skill with the air-filled balls as she does with the “little glass” ones, the team is sure to be a winner this season.
[Editor’s note: “PPC” refers to Point Park College, as Point Park did not become a university until the 2000s. Stories are not modified to reflect this change to keep the writing as unchanged and authentic as possible.]
