Sam Jones, right, hugs a friend who attended her Thursday night, Feb. 29, presentation at Steele Memorial Library. Jones, a three-time Olympian in team handball and two-time All-American in basketball, talked about ‘A Day in the Life of an Olympic Athlete,’ sponsored by the Mount Olive Area Historical Society in observance of Black History Month. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
Olympian Sam Jones, left, and Ken Dilda, director of the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum, talk about her decision to donate memorabilia from her Olympic career to the museum. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
Sam Jones, right, a three-time Olympian in team handball and two-time All-American in basketball, shares her experiences Thursday, Feb. 29, at Steele Memorial Library. Jones talked about ‘A Day in the Life of an Olympic Athlete’ sponsored by the Mount Olive Area Historical Society in observance of Black History Month. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
Sam Jones, who played on the U.S. Olympic Team Handball squad, holds up a ball used in the sport. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
One of Sam Jones’ Olympic jackets hangs on a chair as she talks about her career during her program, sponsored by the Mount Olive Area Historical Society in observance of Black History Month. The program was held Thursday, Feb. 29, at Steele Memorial Library. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
Leora “Sam” Jones had no idea that the racquetball class she signed up for while attending East Carolina University would set her on a path that would take her around the world as an Olympic athlete and coach.
“I have been blessed,” Jones said.
Counted among those many blessings are a loving and supportive family, a determination to excel at whatever she undertakes and a natural athletic ability, she said.
Jones, a three-time Olympian in team handball and two-time All-American in basketball, shared her experiences Thursday, Feb. 29, at Steele Memorial Library.
The program, “A Day in the Life of an Olympic Athlete,” was sponsored by the Mount Olive Area Historical Society in observance of Black History Month.
The event included memorabilia from Jones’ career that she is donating to the David John Aaron Teaching and History Museum.
Jones, 63, wore one of her Olympic jackets, joking that it was somewhat smaller on her than when she played.
At the end of a the program, a video was shown of some of her Olympic play.
Jones spoke of growing up in Mount Olive where she honed her athletic skills playing against boys because there were no girls to play against.
Because of school district lines, Jones attended Brogden Middle School at Dudley where she started playing basketball.
On the day of the tryouts, Jones said she stayed after school, not thinking about calling or letting her parents know where she was.
It was only afterward that she realized she had no way home — so she decided to thumb a ride home. She was 12 at the time.
You have to remember, times were different then, she said, adding that is something that shouldn’t be done to do.
A cousin picked her up and gave her a ride home.
Her family was eating when Jones got home so she slipped into her room and hid, later telling them she had fallen asleep.
Jones, the daughter of the late Ruthie and Ernest “Red” Jones, joked her parents didn’t buy the story, and she received a spanking.
She went on to a standout basketball career at Southern Wayne High School. She followed that with stellar showings at Louisburg Junior College and East Carolina University, earning All-American honors at both.
Jones was inducted into both schools’ Hall of Fame.
Despite growing up during a time of segregation, Jones said she did not allow that that to deter her nor sour her outlook on life.
She noted that while in high school an attempt was made to start a women’s golf team where she would have been the only black person — a position she found herself in on several occasions.
However, even if she had been on the team, she could not have played on courses that were for whites only.
At ECU, Jones signed up for racquetball — a sport she tackled with the same determination as she did for all the goals she set for herself.
Her abilities prompted a coach to ask if she wanted to try out for handball.
Jones said her first thought was U.S. handball where players use their hand to hit a small ball off a wall.
However, what she was being asked to play was team handball, sport better known in Europe where the game is played on a basketball-type court with a soccer-type goal on each end. The ball is somewhat smaller than a soccer ball.
The tryouts were held at ECU.
In her first attempt, Jones turned her head as she threw the ball, completely missing the goal. She did the same on her second attempt, but this time hitting the goalie in the face and breaking her nose.
She and the goalie went on to become close friends, Jones said.
That tryout eventually led to the U.S. national team and three Summer Olympic Games — 1984 in Los Angeles; 1988 in Seoul, South Korea; and 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.
Jones was an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team until 1995.
By then her parents were growing older, and Jones decided to return to North Carolina where she began a 20-year career with UPS.
She lived in Raleigh, but moved back to her childhood home in 2016 to take care of her mother. Also by that time Jones had undergone three back surgeries.
Jones said she tries to remain active and enjoys playing pickleball at the Carver Cultural Center gym.
“I am blessed,” she said.
