University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Office of the Women's Tennis Coach.

Women's tennis at the University of North Carolina began in the 1930s as an intramural club for female undergraduates. Somewhat later, the club began to host extramural games. A true intercollegiate women's tennis program did not exist, however, until 1970-1971, when the University became a charter member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Tennis was one of six varsity teams for women established at that time.

From the description of Records of the Office of the Women's Tennis Coach, 1976-2004. WorldCat record id: 34105564

Women's tennis at the University of North Carolina began as an intramural club for female undergraduate students as early as the 1930s and served as an activity that would satisfy the university's undergraduate physical education requirement. In fact, there was a separate women's tennis court as early as 1923. Extramural play began sometime later, and in 1958 the Tennis Club hosted the first annual Tennis Day, an event that brought together women's teams from around the state.

During the academic year 1970-1971, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill became a charter member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Tennis was one of the six varsity teams for women that the university initially fielded. Also in 1970 the university had its first co-ed All-American, tennis player Laura DuPont. By 1974, in compliance with Title IX (designed to end sexual discrimination in collegiate sports), all athletic teams were brought together as an administrative unit, and women's varsity teams were transferred to the (men's) Athletic Association. Women also began to receive athletic scholarships for the first time.

For more information on the development of women's athletics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, see Angela Lumpkin, Women's Physical Activity at the First State University: An Uphill Struggle .

From the guide to the Office of the Women's Tennis Coach of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1976-2004, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives.)