Dr. Szabó Lajos: Nők a magyar sportban (A Sportmúzeum Kincsei 3. Budapest, 2003)

BALL GAMES The competitive forms of ball games, along with their national and international championships, stemmed from the general development of sports in the 20th century. In Hungary, the federations of most game sports were formed after World War I and that is when the first championships were announced. Physical education at school played a groundbreaking role in this process, too. It was the committed PE teachers who introduced handball, basketball and volleyball to their students. (Many of these educators encountered with competitive ball games during their studies abroad.) Although soccer was considered a game exclusively pursued by men, it was also a „hobby activity" for a few women starting the I940's. As a female sport, soccer only gained official recognition in the 1970's. The popularity of volleyball grew steadily after the I950's and was extremely successful during the I970's (with the Hungarian ladies' team being no. 4 at the 1976 Olympics). At that time, the coach of the very successful team was also a lady. Mrs. Attila Kotsis. Basketball has been the most evenly developing female game in Hungary. The national team was European champion in the I950's and their success continued in the I980's as well. As a unique development, basketball ceased to be a Budapest-centered sport. After the success series of BSE, it is the countryside clubs that have been harvesting significant international trophies starting the I990's (Pécs, Sopron). Women's handball developed in a similarly balanced manner during the past decades, although it has a somewhat smaller young talent base than basketball. The Hungarian national team was already successful in large field handball that was characteristic of the early ages of the game. The success series continued in what we know as handball today, both for the national team and the clubs (Olympic bronze medal in 1996, silver in 2000, championship victories by FTC, Vasas, Dunaferr, Győr and Debrecen). Women's water polo is a success team game of recent years. Hungary's women's national team became European Champion in 2001 and won the silver medal at the World Championship. Similarly to pentathlon, water polo has been a traditionally strong sport in Hungary for men and the related professional background contributed greatly to the success of the women teams.Table tennis was the most successful women's ball game for Hungary in the 20th century. We have had world-class talents in nearly every decade since 1920 (Mária Mednyánszky, Gizella Farkas, Eva Kóczián, Judit Magos, Beatrix Kisházi and, today, Csilla Bátorfi and Krisztina Tóth) who could successfully compete not only with European players but also with the Asians who are renowned for being extraordinarily skilled at this game.