Bessie Stockard facts for kids

Bessie Ann Frances Stockard is an amazing American athlete. She was a talented tennis player. She also became a famous women's basketball coach.

Bessie Stockard grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. She was the youngest of seven children. Her dad was a custodian, and her mom was a teacher. Her brother, R. L. Stockard, became a sportswriter.

Her Start in Sports

In high school, Bessie started playing basketball. She also played paddle tennis. She earned a scholarship to Tuskegee University for basketball. She graduated in 1955.

Bessie was very good at paddle tennis in Nashville. But a local tennis champion, Wilitta Bartley, inspired her. Bessie's father bought her a tennis racket. He bought it on layaway, meaning he paid for it over time. Soon, Bessie became skilled enough to beat Bartley. She won the Nashville City Parks tennis championship. This happened in her first year of college.

A Champion on the Tennis Court

Bessie Stockard played in the American Tennis Association (ATA). She played for more than ten years. She won 12 national ATA titles. That's a lot of championships!

She also played professionally. She joined the Virginia Slims Circuit. This was from 1971 to 1974. At that time, she was the only African-American player on the circuit.

Building a Basketball Team from Scratch

Bessie Stockard was hired by the newly created Federal City College. This college was in Washington D.C. Her first job was to coach cheerleaders and majorettes.

In the fall of 1969, she created the Federal City Pantherettes. This was the women's basketball team. She started with no money, no gym, and no uniforms. The players used donated shirts. They practiced in local high school gyms.

At first, they could not find college teams to play against them. So, they played mostly against amateur league teams. They had a great record of 12 wins and 6 losses. They were invited to the Amateur Athletic Union national tournament. They were eliminated in the first round.

The Pantherettes Rise to Fame

Over the next few years, the Pantherettes became very well known. They played well against teams in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). They also played in the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Sports Association for Women.

Coach Stockard became known for her stylish hats. She also made sure her team dressed in matching clothes off the court. Several polls ranked them number one nationally.

Despite being top-ranked, they faced a tough challenge. In the 1975 AIAW women's basketball tournament, they played Delta State. Delta State was another favorite to win. Federal City lost to Delta State 77–75 in overtime. Delta State went on to win the tournament. Federal City was later eliminated by Wayland Baptist.

Some Federal City players went on to play professionally. They joined the Women's Professional Basketball League. Sadly, one of their star players, Jennifer Mitchell, passed away young at age 22.

Coaching Challenges and Later Career

Even with the team's success, Coach Stockard faced difficulties. A new athletic director removed her before the 1976–77 season. This caused many of her players to quit the team.

Stockard then served as an assistant coach. She helped the United States women's basketball team in the 1976 Summer Olympics. In the fall, she started coaching at American University. But she was let go two years later. This was because she was not teaching at the school.

She was rehired in 1979 by the University of the District of Columbia. This was Federal City's new name. Her teams had great records: 21 wins and 5 losses, and 19 wins and 6 losses. Another disagreement with an athletic director led to her being fired again. She took legal action, saying she was treated unfairly. She was put back in her job by a court order in October 1982. But she was fired a third time in April 1983.

Honors and Awards

Bessie Stockard has received many honors for her contributions to sports.

• In 1993, she was inducted into the Tuskegee University Athletic Hall of Fame.
• In 2012, she joined the Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame.
• In 2013, she was honored in the Black Tennis Hall of Fame.
• In 2016, she was inducted into the University of the District of Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame.