Women's Tennis


Two clay courts and one lawn court were used and located at the East end of the auditorium when Co-ed Lawn Tennis was introduced to The Oshkosh Normal School in 1897. The Athletic Association that provided the players with the courts and nets sponsored Lawn Tennis. However to decrease The Athletic Association's expenses, the players were responsible for their own rackets and tennis balls. The men played tournaments and matches against the different classes, while Professor Hewitt offered a new racket for the winner of The Ladies' Tournament held in June. The enthusiasm of the ladies compelled the men to take a back seat for the first time in the history of The Oshkosh Normal School athletics (Quiver).
Co-Ed tennis team, 1896-1897
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Tennis emerged into an interest group in 1967 under Coach Pat O'Connor and remained an interest group until 1972 when it joined the WWIAC and became an intercollegiate sport. According to Helen Briwa, Head Women's Athletic Director from 1968-1988, all of the coaches were volunteers from the Physical Education Department. However, the male coaches had release time, which means time off from teaching and class loads to accommodate time necessary for coaching. The women coaches were not allocated release time. Women faculty members felt that the time commitments deteriorated the quality of both their teaching and coaching. Since women coaches were not granted release time, Coach Pat O'Connor quit coaching women's tennis in 1973. Following the 1977 season, Jim Davies, men's tennis and swimming coach, relinquished his swim coaching position to Jan Moldenhauer and became the men and women's tennis coach, much to Helen Briwa's dismay. She felt a woman should coach women's sports. Jim Davies' wife, Margaret, was called "Mrs. Coach" because she headed all of the administrative duties involved in coaching, such as scheduling arrangements. Jim Davies could concentrate solely on coaching practice and matches.
In 1973, the students believed that unequal release time was unfair. For this reason, Janet Mueller organized and helped the students stage a funeral on the lawn of Dempsy Hall complete with coffin and news crews to broadcast the event. The funeral signified the burial of women's sports and coaches if the women coaches were not granted release time. According to Helen Briwa, the proposed user fee would kill women's athletics. The male coaches still believed that the women coaches needed to prove themselves before receiving release time. As a result of the funeral, women coaches were awarded limited release time, but still the release time was not equal to the male coaches.
	The 1974 Quvier's photograpic statement regarding the release time controversy.
Under Coach Jim Davies, the Women's Tennis Team competed in dual and triangular meets as well as invitationals. During Coach Jim Davies' coaching career, the team recorded a perfect dual meet season, second in state as a team, and several Individual State Championships. Coach Jim Davies resigned his coaching position in 1989 and handed over his reign to Coach Steve Francour in 1990, who remains the current Men's and Women's Tennis Coach for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
References Briwa, Helen. (1999). Personal Interview. Mickelson, B. (1976, May 3). Women's Intercollegiate Sports at U.W.O. Audio Tape O'Connor, Pat . (1999, February 8). Personal Interview. Sports. (1980, September 11). The Advance-Titan Netters Outplay Stout. (1980). The Advance-Titan The Quiver. (1897, 1900, & 1973).	Titan netter Carol Bowman diplays good form (undated).