Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1993
Lehigh University's first director of women's athletics was appointed in July of 1972, one year after the first female undergraduates were admitted to the University. Helen Bond was given the task of establishing a women's athletic department and her results are impressive both as an administrator and coach. While serving as athletics director, Bond also coached tennis, field hockey and swimming at the same time. She was without question a key figure in the start of today's highly successful and expanding women's program - a program which features 13 sports as of 2017.
Bond coached the field hockey team to a 5-3 record in 1974 and to an impressive 10-0 regular season record in 1975 - only the third year of the program's existence. The team scored 42 goals and gave up only six, with no team scoring more than one in a game. Lehigh reached the eastern regional playoffs before losing to No. 3 nationally-ranked Lock Haven in 1976.
Bond also coached the women's tennis team in that program's initial season. She coached the Netters to a 26-5 overall record over a four-year span. Lehigh never had a losing season under Bond as it finished 3-3 in its inaugural season, 8-0 in both 1975 and 1976, and 7-2 and 1977. At one point, Lehigh had unbeaten tennis squads which reeled off 20 consecutive victories over a three-year period.
Bond graduated from Youngstown University in 1956 and received her M.B.A. in management from Pepperdine University in 1983.
