The Portage High School East boys gym has been renamed to honor former girls basketball coach Renee Turpa.
“Coach (Renee) Turpa was a pioneer back in the early days of women’s sports in the Title IX era,” Portage Township School Board President Andy Maletta said.
“There is no one more deserving of this honor at Portage High School. Your lasting legacy will go on forever,” he said.
The gym is the most recent facility named in honor of a former coach or educator.
“It’s a really incredible honor. It’s hard to think of my name being mentioned with my mentors,” Turpa said.
“Portage has really given me a lot,” she said.
That includes her husband, Pete, whom she met on the first day of her first year as a teacher, during a staff meeting.
She gave her athletes a lot, too, noting that some went on to become doctors, lawyers and business owners in Portage.
“It’s so great to see the great things they’ve done. It was because of Portage schools and athletics that they did it,” Turpa said.
Turpa’s record at PHS includes more wins than any other basketball coach. She’s now an assistant coach at Marquette High School in Michigan City in addition to serving as group sales coordinator for Valparaiso University athletics and a women’s basketball/volleyball color analyst for home broadcasts on ESPN.
Superintendent Amanda Alaniz called her a trailblazer in women’s sports.
Turpa is on the board of directors for the National High School Basketball Coaches Association and the National Organization of Coaches Association Directors as well as assistant director with the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. She’s involved with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the Indiana Girls Sports Association.
Turpa earned six varsity letters at Ball State University, in women’s basketball, women’s golf and softball.
“Naming the gymnasium in Coach Turpa’s honor is a fitting tribute to her lasting legacy at Portage High School,” Alaniz said. “Her influence as an educator, coach and mentor has shaped generations of students and will continue to inspire all who walk through the doors and step onto the court.”
Turpa taught special education at PHS for 32 years, where she authored the adaptive physical education program. She was the first female inducted into the National High School Basketball Coaches Association Court of Honor, Alaniz said.
The board voted Monday on the resolution. Turpa will be honored during halftime at the 7 p.m. Feb. 13 boys basketball game. Former players, colleagues and fans are invited to a reception with Turpa at 6 p.m. that day at the PHS south cafeteria. Use Door Q.
At the meeting, board member Matt Ramian praised the basketball program in Portage. The eighth graders were undefeated two years in a row, and the varsity team was undefeated.
“They’re on another level. They’re doing really good,” he said. “It’s just good to see a program thriving and back to life.”
Ramiam said he hopes the new PHS football coach will revamp the program and turn it around.
The new football coach attended the PHS boys basketball game a few days before.
“That support matters,” Alaniz said, as coaches show support for other teams and the community.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
