Yogi Hightower

Yogi Hightower was a multi-sport star in high school in Virginia Beach, playing basketball and making the US Junior Olympic swim team. She went to Old Dominion University where she played hockey (field), making All-American in 1981 and 1982. In 1982 she won the Honda Award, given to the nation’s top women athlete in field hockey, making Hightower the first African-American to win the award. She was an alternate to the 1984 Olympic team and played at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Hightower went into coaching, serving as assistant coach at Old Dominion from 1987-91. She also coached and taught in the Virginia Beach school system and coached in local high schools, including Ocean Lakes High School. One of her Ocean Lakes’ players, Mimi Smith, later played hockey at Old Dominion, and became the second African-American to win the Honda Award in the sport.