Jan. 9, 2014
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy will retire the first women's basketball jersey in program history Saturday when Becky Dowling Calder's No. 32 is unveiled in the Alumni Hall rafters at the very start of halftime of the Army-Navy women's game. That game is slated to tip at 1:30 p.m.
Fans in attendance will be able to meet Calder after the conclusion of the women's game and before the start of the Army-Navy men's game (4 p.m.) in the Bo Coppedge Room on the second deck of Alumni Hall. General admission tickets for the doubleheader remain available through the Navy Ticket Office either by phone (1-800-US4-NAVY) or through www.NavySports.com.
Those unable to attend the doubleheader can watch the games live on national cable television on the CBS Sports Network. A video stream over the internet will not be available for either game. Locally, WNAV-AM 1430 will carry both games.
The arrival of the 5-11 Dowling from Longview, Wash., to The Yard in the fall of 1994 helped spark the first era of successful Navy women's basketball teams in the Patriot League. After placing no higher than in a tie for fifth in Navy's initial three campaigns as a member of the league, the Mids placed third in both 1995 and `96, second in 1997 and shared the league's regular season title in 1998. Navy also enjoyed great success in the postseason with Calder on the roster. The Mids advanced to the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament in each of her first three years before becoming the first Navy team to appear in the championship game of the event during her final season. The 23 wins posted by her 1997-98 team remains the most accrued in a single year by a Navy squad, while the 80 career wins tallied by her Class of 1998 set a school record at the time and now ranks second to the 81 victories attained by the Class of 1999. Individually, Calder ranks third in school history for both career wins (76) and career winning percentage (73.8%).
Calder herself was a highly decorated player. She garnered both Patriot League Rookie-of-the-Year and Second-Team All-Patriot League honors in 1995 before earning first-team all-league laurels in both 1997 and `98. She was the first of only four Mids to receive a trio of all-league nods in a career. Calder also was selected as the Adm. Larson Award (team MVP) winner as a junior and senior, served as the captain of the squad in each of her final two seasons and was the recipient of the 1998 Vice Adm. Lawrence Sword for Women, which is presented to the woman of the USNA's graduating class declared by the Association's Athletic Committee to have personally excelled in athletics during her years of varsity competition.
Despite her career ending 16 seasons ago, she still remains ranked among the top-10 Mids in 15 career statistical categories. This includes her name being atop the lists for total rebounds (923), rebounding average (9.0 rpg), steals (261), steal average (2.53 spg) and minutes played per game (34.5). Calder also ranked second in Patriot League history at the time of her graduation in total rebounds (remains seventh) and stood fifth in scoring at Navy (now sixth) with 1,470 points.
She amassed those lofty totals while missing one-third of her sophomore season due to an injury. The second of four Navy players in school history to average double figures in points all four years, she was averaging in 18.1 points and 9.1 rebounds a game that season when she was lost for the remainder of the year after tearing the ACL in her left knee.
In the classroom, Calder posted a 3.38 grade-point average and garnered academic honors from the USNA in five semesters as an English major.
Upon graduating from the USNA and being commissioned as an officer in the Navy, she entered flight school in 1998 and received her aviator wings in July 2000. That same month she was assigned to VFA-106 ("Gladiators") out of Virginia Beach, Va., where she learned to fly the F/A-18 Hornet. She joined VFA-83 ("Rampagers") one year later and was deployed aboard the USS George Washington in support of both Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom.
In April 2004, she was selected to attend the U.S. Navy's Fighter Weapons School in Fallon, Nev., which is more commonly referred to as TOPGUN. Calder became first female pilot to graduate from the elite program while also earning the designation of Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor. She quickly put her new training into practice as in June of that year she began serving as an instructor at the Strike Fighter Weapons School Atlantic in Oceana, Va.
Calder was assigned as the VFA-105's ("Gunslingers") training officer in Virginia Beach beginning in January 2007. The squadron would soon be deployed aboard the USS Harry S. Truman in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After two years with the squadron, Calder was assigned as the training officer for VAQ-129 ("Vikings") where she helped bolster the EA-18G Growler community out of the squadron's base at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, Wash.
Calder remained an instructional pilot for VAQ-129 after transitioning to the U.S. Navy Reserves in August 2011. She also began serving as the Air-to-Air Subject Matter Expert for the Growler Tactics Instructor Course at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Fallon. In all, the Commander has accrued over 2,500 flight hours and made 421 arrested landings, 185 of which occurred at night.
In August 2013, she and her husband, Adrian Calder, moved to Atsugi, Japan, with their two children. Adrian is on active duty for the Navy and currently serves as the executive officer for VFA-27 ("Maces").
"As a future naval aviator, I am inspired by Becky's accomplishments," said current Navy team captain Kara Pollinger, who will be Navy's last active player to wear No. 32 before it is retired in Dowling's honor at the end of this season. "She is obviously a great role model for our team and we are proud that she is a part of the NWB family. The whole team is honored to wear our jerseys because the name on the front represents something so much bigger than ourselves individually. I feel especially blessed since my number on the back does the same.
"I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit down for breakfast in King Hall with Becky this summer. It was fun to hear about her hardships as a midshipman, experiences while on the basketball team, and the rest of her journey to becoming a successful naval aviator. She had some great advice along with a humble attitude which honestly made me wish that I could have been her teammate while she was here. She kept saying how proud she was of us as a team and our ability to develop the program into something great. I just hope that we can continue to have an impact on the program after we graduate just as Becky has."
Though this will be the first women's jersey to be retired, Navy has previously retired the jerseys of five men's basketball players:
No. 4 - John Clune - Class of 1954
Owns the Navy record for career scoring average (22.3 ppg) ... held the school single-season scoring record (634) for 31 years and the career scoring record (1,561) for 25 years even though he played just three varsity seasons ... now ranks fifth for points in a season and seventh for points in a career ... averaged over 20 points a game in each of his three seasons ... earned Second-Team All-America honors as a senior.
No. 13 - Don Lange - Class of 1954
Is one of two Navy players to have averaged a double-double (20.4 ppg, 11.9 rpg) for a career ... his career point total of 1,344 ranked fourth at Navy at the end of his career (now 15th) ... held the school's career rebounding record (785) for 25 seasons (now fifth) and still holds the career rebounding average record (11.9 rpg) ... earned Third-Team All-America accolades as a junior ... had never played basketball until arriving at Navy.
No. 50 - David Robinson - Class of 1987
Two-time All-American ... winner of the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year and the USBWA Player of the Year in 1987 ... holds multiple Navy career records, including points (2,669), field goals made (1,032), rebounds (1,314) and blocks (516) ... also holds school single season marks for points (903), scoring average (28.2 ppg), rebounds (455) and blocks (207) ... went on to become the No. draft pick in the NBA, earn NBA Rookie-of-the-Year honors, be selected to 10 NBA All-Star games, named as the NBA's Most Valuable Player and tabbed as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history ... a two-time NBA champion, Robinson was the first American basketball player to appear in three Olympic Games, winning Gold Medals in 1992 and 1996 ... selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 in his first season of eligibility.
No. 50 - Kevin Sinnett -- Class of 1979
Held the Navy career scoring (1,687) and rebounding (797) record at the time of his graduation and now ranks fourth in both categories ... ended his career ranked second in career field goal percentage (52.6%) and now ranks 10th ... led Navy in scoring in each of his four years ... topped 30 points in three games ... still holds the freshman single-game scoring mark (34) and ranks second among all freshman for points in a season (366) ... twice earned Academic All-American honors.
No. 51 - Vernon Butler - Class of 1986
Graduated as the leader scorer (1,952) and rebounder (1,115) in Navy history and remains second on the both lists ... also ranks second in career field goal percentage (55.6%) and field goals made (692), as well as fifth in career rebounding average (8.8 rpg) ... played a Navy record 4,365 career minutes ... served as the captain of Navy's 1985 (26-6) and 1986 (30-5, reached East Region final in the NCAA Tournament) teams ... ranks seventh at Navy for points scored in a season (590).
