Sports and Athletics

Sports and athletics is one of the areas of student life changed most dramatically by the switch to co-education in 1933. Before 1933 there is no mention of official athletic or sports teams in the yearbook as opportunities for the women attending the school. In the very first year of integration, an official combined football and basketball team was formed and included in that years yearbook. By the following year, the athletic offerings had expanded significantly to now include football, baseball, track, golf, and basketball teams. Many large colleges at this time already had competitive men’s athletic programs but a lack of availability of women’s formal sports teams prevented Westmoorland from having athletics sooner.

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Football and Basketball team from 1933

This yearbook spread describes the first-ever Westmoorland football team and how strongly the student body supported the players. The basketball team had a rough start to its first season, as it initially lacked a coach. However, once the team secured a coach, the outcomes for the remainder of the season improved.

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Sports in the 1934 Yearbook

The sports teams and athletics spread from the 1934 yearbook shows a much expanded athletics program, which included baseball, track, and golf as new sports. The scrapbook-like images include depictions of girls cheerleading and riding horses as well.

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The newspaper clip describes a women’s intramural basketball tournament with the photograph featuring the four team captains and the referee.

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This newspaper clip describes the diversification of available student activities for the 1933-34 school year, only one year after the switch to co-education. The article describes the creation of sports teams for boys and girls among many other extra-curricular activities.

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Though he lost one of his arms in an automobile accident, Manning Holland was one of the star players on the Westmoorland College Football team, the Broncos.