Two Women Players Now in Globetrotters Cast

They are basketball’s answer to Cagney and Lacey -- television’s prime-time cops -- and doing just fine with the Harlem Globetrotters.

In 1985, in a burst of gender-breaking fanfare, basketball’s most celebrated touring show added Lynette Woodard to its lineup. Now a sidekick joins the cast in Jackie White.

“A lot of people would like to hear that Lynette and I don’t get along,” she says. “She’s given me a lot of direction. She’s been a very positive role model. We don’t go out shopping every day -- Lynette’s a very private person and so am I. But we have a good working relationship.”

White, a former star player at Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Long Beach, is the second woman to take part in the ensemble that for 60 years has dribbled and clowned its way to the remote corners of the planet.

“It was a big deal being the first female on a male-dominated team,” she says of Woodard. “I was so excited. Now I’m the second. People have experienced that initial excitement. Lynette broke the ice for me.”

White took a leave of absence from her job as a counselor at a California prison to join the squad at the close of last year. She has played in some 40 games, including a tour of Western Europe. Like all Globetrotter rookies, she is on a one-year contract.

“It’s funny, the very first game was my best,” she says. “The guys talked me through it and I did everything I was supposed to do. Now I have to learn the routines myself. Now I’m making my own mistakes.”

There is plenty of time for such things as a Globetrotter. The team plays 200 games during an eight-month schedule from September to April. Airline food becomes one of life’s staples.

“I already know about airport waiting rooms,” says White, who completes a four-day Globetrotters tour of the New York metropolitan area Feb. 16.

According to the Globetrotter script, White plays the third quarter of games and Woodard the second. The more experienced hands tend to the trick shots.

“One of the toughest parts is playing against men at this level,” White says. “I’ve played with men players before but only in playgrounds. It’s made me adjust. Now I have to be a smarter player. I have to be more consistent. My reactions have to be quicker.”

White, a 5-foot-10 guard, was born in Little Rock, Ark. Her family moved to Fresno, Calif., when she was 6 years old.

“When I was a kid I had no female role models,” she says. “The only ones were male. I never imagined, never thought I would become a Globetrotter. I watched them year to year on TV. I never dreamed this would happen.”

White knows the importance of role models, especially at the Youth Training School in Chino, Calif. The prison houses 17- to 25-year olds, and White works with murderers, child molesters and drug abusers -- “every kind of criminal you can imagine.” She also serves as a guard but does not carry a gun.

“At the beginning, I had a lot of fears in the back of my mind working in a closed environment like a prison,” she says. “I always wanted to give back something to society -- give some direction to youths that had no direction, be a positive role model. Once I was inside I set those fears aside.”

But as someone who appears on morning talk shows on television and signs an occasional autograph in a hotel lobby, White scores points with the people she counsels.

“I receive more respect because I am a public figure and something of a celebrity,” she says. “I have a lot of influence. They respect what I say more than someone without those credentials.”

However, between running down court each night and running to the airport, there are problems as a Globetrotter. Even for a woman with a quick move to the basket and a sparkle in her eye.

“I do have difficulty meeting guys -- they’re a little intimidated,” she says. “I don’t ever get approached. I have no social life whatsoever.”