TACOMA, Wash. - Throughout the spring semester GoLutes.com will highlight the five individuals and two varsity four crews from the PLU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2020 that will be inducted on March 12 at Chris Knutzen Hall in the Anderson University Center. Today's installment features tennis, basketball, and field hockey standout Tammy Skubinna who graduated in 1974 with a degree in Social Welfare and a Master's in 1981 in Social Sciences.

Tammy Skubinna knew she wanted to go to a liberal arts college in western Washington.

The fact that PLU had female sports was just the cherry on top.

Skubinna, a Spokane, Wash., native, played sports in junior high, but most female sports weren't offered in high school so she played intramurals and city league basketball.

When she got to Parkland, though, she played basketball, tennis and eventually field hockey for the Lutes.

"The fact that PLU had sports for women was a pretty big deal," Skubinna said. "There weren't a lot of opportunities. Timing wise, it was just right for me to get there and get to play."

Skubinna starred for the basketball team, averaging 14 points per game, and was also a four-year star for the tennis team.

"I was an outside shooter basically," she said of her basketball career. "There was no 3-point line in those days, so my scoring records would have been a little different today."

Her field hockey career, however, was a late blooming one.

She had never played the sport until she was recruited prior to her sophomore year. In fact, no one on the team had played it before.

Skubinna and her teammates learned the sport on the fly and it led to her eventually playing 10 years after college with a club team in Tacoma.

One of the highlights of that time was getting to play against players who eventually were on the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist team for the U.S.
The opportunities she received in athletics at PLU laid a foundation for a lifetime of sports.

She played basketball, softball, field hockey and tennis for years after graduation, and is still competing in doubles on the tennis court despite being in her 70s.

"I play three times a week at my club," she said. "It's great. I feel really fortunate to be healthy."

Skubinna was named the PLU Athletic Department's George Fisher Scholar-Athlete her senior year, as the field hockey team was 10-8-1, basketball 11-5 and tennis 11-3 that year.

She was a team captain for the basketball team as a junior, leading the team in scoring and a win against Gonzaga.

"PLU had a major impact on my life," she said. "I applied there my senior year (of high school) and I had never seen it. I got accepted, went to visit and I knew this was it. It's so welcoming."

After she graduated she stayed in Tacoma, living with a former teammate's family. She worked at a child study treatment center her senior year of college, dealing with kids who had emotional problems.

That eventually led to a different career than a social work degree normally leads to.

She started working with a local 4-H program, eventually managing the Corvallis, Ore., county program for 26 years.

Her lifetime love of sports and her long, rewarding career were made a reality because of the passion instilled in her at PLU.

"It is a great place in many, many ways," she said. "I was so poor and didn't have any money and they supported me financially. It totally changed my life.

"That is why PLU is definitely in my heart."