Arkansas Women's Intercollegiate Sports Association

The Arkansas Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Association (AWISA) was created as the Arkansas Women’s Extramural Sports Association (AWESA) in 1965 with the goal to boost, advance, and broaden women’s sports programs at all state colleges and universities; assist female athletes with developing skills in sports; and expand intramural sports. AWESA reported to the Division of Girls and Women’s Sports (DGWS) of the Arkansas Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (AAHPER). All Arkansas colleges and universities were eligible to participate in AWESA, but their athletics staff was required to also be involved with the American Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. AWESA leadership consisted of chairman, chairman-elect, past-chairman, and executive secretary-treasurer.

AWESA changed its name to AWISA following its fall 1973 meeting, as women’s sports were no longer being viewed as intramural or extramural but instead were becoming competitive, athletic sports. Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which provided equal opportunities for women in education, had been enacted in 1972, and following this, a female student athlete from the University of Miami, Peachy Kellmeyer, had filed a lawsuit against the national Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in part because scholarships were forbidden to female student athletes, unlike male student athletes. The lawsuit ruled in favor of Kellmeyer. AWISA enacted rules and regulations on athletic scholarships for female student athletes and recruitment to prevent similar lawsuits.

By 1973, AWISA consisted of the following seventeen colleges and universities: Arkansas College (now Lyon College), Arkansas Polytechnic University (now Arkansas Tech University), Arkansas State University, Arkansas State University-Beebe, Harding College (now Harding University), Henderson State College (now Henderson State University), Hendrix College, John Brown University, Ouachita Baptist University, Phillips County Community College of the University of Arkansas, Southern State College (now Southern Arkansas University), State College of Arkansas (now the University of Central Arkansas), University of Arkansas in Fayetteville (Washington County), University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas at Monticello, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and Westark Junior College (now the University of Arkansas Fort Smith). Individual and team sports recognized by the organization were as follows: archery, basketball, bowling, golf, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. AWISA tournaments were held throughout Arkansas at different colleges and universities.

AWISA later folded into the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC), but the full recognition of women’s sports in the state would not begin until the 1983–1984 season. The AIAW would later be replaced by the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) as the governing body of collegiate women’s sports in the United States.

For additional information:
Arkansas Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Association Collection. Center for Arkansas History and Culture. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas. Finding aid online at https://arstudies.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/findingaids/id/2908 (accessed February 26, 2025).

University of Arkansas Athletic Department, Women’s Athletic Director Records. Special Collections. University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Finding aid online at https://uark.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/2448 (accessed February 26, 2025).

James Wethington
UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture