Evans: 'It was what I lived for'

SANDPOINT — From the time she was 5 years old through her early 20s, basketball was the passion of Linda Evans’s life.

“It was what I lived for,” remembers Evans, who played for teams with classic names like the Salmon Arm Jewels and the University of British Columbia Thunderettes.

Now: Four decades later and she’s still reminded of that passion, as the 60 year-old longtime Sandpoint resident was recently enshrined in the British Columbia Basketball Hall of Fame. The entire 1969-70 Thunderettes team, which went 32-6 and won the women’s Canadian National Championship, was inducted into the class of 2010.

“It was so many years ago, but it just keeps popping up from time to time,” says Evans, one of the trailblazers for early women’s sports. “The Hall of Fame is about us opening the door for creating a life for your athletic ability. We had to prove so much to get our chance, and now there is a professional basketball league for women.”

Then: Evans could score on the court, pure and simple, averaging in the high 20s and low 30s for much of her basketball career and eventually landing a spot on the Canadian National Women’s Team.

Her father, Rex Willard, was a quarterback at the University of Idaho and used to teach in Sandpoint at the old 9th grade center during the war years. Evans frittered away many hours of her youth shooting baskets in a gym.

As a senior at Salmon Arm High School, Evans was named Most Valuable Player on a team that won its fifth straight provincial championship. She was a 21 year-old student and training for the 1972 Olympics when her mom died, effectively ending her basketball career.

“I kind of lost my footing,” recalls Evans, who dropped out of school. “My world fell apart.”

Now: Basketball is a distant memory for Evans these days. Since giving up hoops she has raised four children, including daughter Heather Gross, who owns the Pie Hut in Sandpoint. She was a professional land surveyor in Sandpoint for more than 30 years, before recently graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Idaho. She plans to enter the MSW program at Boise State later this fall.

“I learned early on how to set a goal and not let anything stop you,” says Evans. “It’s that you learn how not to lose, to never quit.”

Then: When Evans was in the 10th grade she remembers playing in an All-Star game against a select team from the B.C. coast, in front of a huge crowd as the warm up game for the Canadian National Team playing against the Russians. Not surprisingly she had a big scoring night and led her team to the upset. She can still recite the newspaper headline from the following day, which meant a lot to her.

“Linda gives Jewels win over Coast All-Stars,” laughs Evans, who loved the teamwork aspect of basketball the most. “I love when you break into a mindset as a group to sacrifice for the common goal. I love the dynamic of unselfish teamwork.”

Now: Evans is a chaplain with the Idaho Chaplain Corp, and as a Certified Christian Restorative Therapist who provides addiction counseling services and does PSR for New Hope Social Services in Sandpoint. With her four daughters raised, she has shifted her future focus to yet another goal.

“To create a residential trauma healing center in Sandpoint,” explains Evans, lauding the area. “I think Bonner County is a great place for kids to heal.”

Favorite movie or show: Glee.

Favorite music: Christian contemporary.

Favorite food: Heather’s Tai Chicken Curry Soup.