Shirley Nannini’s 33-year tenure at Evanston Township High School as a physical education teacher, co-athletic director and coach may have ended, but now her legacy will live on.
The school on April 22 dedicated a second-floor gym in her honor, revealing the new banner reading the “Evanston Township High School Shirley Nannini Gymnasium.”
– Original Credit: Handout
“Ms. Nannini dedicated herself to education while uplifting the underserved and the people with the smallest voices at ETHS,” Carlita Matthews Heinrich, an ETHS Badminton player from 1986-1990, said. “She was and remains to be a stellar role model. She’s charismatic, innovative, and a true humanitarian. I’m only one of many to receive her kindness and generosity.”
Nannini coached tennis and badminton at the school and was a strong advocate for gender equity in sports, which makes the dedication particularly fitting for Nannini considering it is the 50th anniversary of Title IX passing.
“Shirley’s impact on sports at ETHS continues to be felt today,” Chris Livatino, athletic director at ETHS, said. “She was a tremendous leader, who opened doors and removed barriers for our student-athletes by being a strong advocate for gender equality in sports. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, it’s particularly fitting to honor Shirley.”
Among Nannini’s key accomplishments at ETHS was working with former co-athletic director and track coach Willie May to develop gender equity in ETHS athletics, a news release states.
The coach was a multi-time winner of the Illinois Badminton Coach of the Year award while also being inducted into the Illinois Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame, receiving the Illinois Athletic Directors Association’s Distinguished Service Award and serving as president of the Badminton Coaches Association, according to an ETHS news release.
Nannini was the head badminton coach at ETHS from 1978 to 2003 and spent 12 of those years as co-athletic director, according to a tweet from ETHS Athletics. In 1992, she became the first female coach at ETHS to win a state championship.
Her official accolades are only a small portion of Nannini’s success, her former students say, as her lasting impact on students continues today.
“Time with Nannini is like a warm hug,” Sura DuBow Lennon, an ETHS Badminton player from 1984-88, said. “The feeling you get after spending time with her, you walk away with a smile on your face, feeling like you’ve been heard, feeling good about yourself and life, and feeling like you can tackle the world.”
Nannini attended the University of Wisconsin where she played both badminton and tennis from 1972 to 1976. During her time at UWL, she never lost a dual meet and captured state titles each year, according to the UWL Athletics Hall of Fame, which she was inducted into in 1991.
Nannini is now the executive director of FreshLens Chicago, a tuition-free photography program for under-resourced Chicago students, which she founded in 2017. Her photographic work has been displayed in galleries and museums throughout the United States since 2012, according to FreshLens Chicago’s website.
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Corey Schmidt is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.