Barbara Lawson Yates

This is the last in a series of articles profiling the 2021 inductees into the Knoch High School Sports Hall of Fame

TAIWAN — Barbara Lawson Yates had to be patient before she was able to take advantage of athletic opportunities in school.

Then she made the most of it.

Yates, a 1979 Knoch graduate and a tri-captain in three sports there, will be one of seven inducted into the Knoch High School Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Knights' football game vs. Freeport Friday night.

Now living and working in Taiwan, Yates recently completed an interview about her career via email.

“Boys sports, especially football and basketball, tended to dominate the interest of my parents, the Knoch community and the total high school (when she was young),” Yates said.

“At that time, Grade 9 was the beginning of sports for girls.”

Yates wound up earning nine varsity letters at Knoch. She lettered four years in track, three in basketball and two in volleyball. Besides being a captain in all three sports, she was 1978 volleyball MVP, 1978-79 girls basketball MVP and 1979 Most Valuable Field Athlete.

She was the Knights' leading rebounder in basketball. Discus was her favorite field event.

“I had natural athleticism that somewhat stemmed from growing up on a farm and working hard from a young age,” Yates said.

“Sports helped relieve pressures related to my high achievements in studies (fourth in graduating class) and gave me a camaraderie with my teammates, and a break from busy home life on our 40-acre family farm.”

She came from a family of eight siblings, with plenty of their food drawn from the family farm.

Yates went on to play volleyball and basketball at Grove City College. An injury slowed her collegiate career.

“Title IX (1972) opened up a new world of interest in sports for women and I was the first in my family to go to a four-year school and play sports there,” she said. “I blew out my left knee, I assume ACL, which at that time was major surgery with a total leg cast.

“By college, I enjoyed volleyball as the most challenging and interesting team sport.”

Yates studied electrical engineering at Grove City and was the only woman graduating in her class with that degree. She worked as a power services engineer with West Penn Power in Washington (Pa.) after graduation.

But that was not her calling.

Yates and her husband, Tim, committed themselves to Christian missionary work in Taiwan and learned the language there. They still live there today.

Her husband is a biblical counseling seminary teacher training other workers for the Chinese churches in Mandarin and does academic administration.

“I've mostly focused on raising our seven children, spent some time in crisis pregnancy counseling and tutoring local Chinese students,” Yates said.

She has also served in various paid roles at Morrison Academy in Taiwan, including administrative assistant, substitute teaching, teacher's aide and volleyball coach.

Being inducted into her alma mater's Hall of Fame brings Yates back to where it all started for her.

“I'm thankful for the academic foundation and the sports platform provided by Knoch High School, which launched me off fairly well-prepared for Grove City College,” she said.

“Sports opportunities for women have improved a lot with more and more leagues and school sports starting at younger ages. They were not available in my junior high years like they were for my younger brothers.”