In the RHG docuseries, we mention a 43-page document UT Women’s Athletics issued in November 1985 that set out some plans, goals, and ideas for the department (men’s and women’s athletics operated in separate departments at that time). The quote we use in the docuseries indicates that because soccer had begun being played in Texas high schools in 1982, it might come in for serious consideration if the university decided to add a sport. We found some other items of interest in the report, too. It’s housed in the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports just in case you want to read the whole thing yourself.

• At that time, 296 male athletes participated in nine sports, 136 of those in football. 122 female athletes participated in eight sports.
• Page 3 read: “Title IX . . . will continue to be applicable to intercollegiate athletic programs, thereby requiring the provision of equal opportunity for male and female student-athletes . . . Since treatment of male and female athletes must be comparable, the cost of the women’s program will mirror that of the men’s program less the considerable expenditures related to the conduct of a football program and the more expensive sport of baseball.”

This was somewhat overly optimistic, given that the recent Grove City Supreme Court decision had removed athletic departments from much Title IX consideration. Legislation was in motion to re-establish a broader reading of the policy, though it would not come into effect for more than a year. The lawsuits UT and others endured in the 1990s indicated that football and baseball obligations would not represent an acceptable reason for lower levels of female participation.

• Page 4 laid out an important priority: “the employment and retention of the nation’s finest head coaches is, without any doubt, the #1 budget priority of the women’s athletics program.”
• Page 7 suggested the department encourage coaches to hold summer camps, in part because they “contribute to successful recruiting and increased spectator support (parents bring campers back to campus to attend games).” That’s exactly what happened with Lexi Missimo, Trinity Byars, EmJ Cox, and others on the 2023 team.
• Page 10 noted that Memorial Stadium was often “unavailable to the track team for practice” during football season. Mike A. Myers Stadium solved that problem even as it also provided a home for the soccer team.

Equipment the office staff in various divisions used to get their work done:

• Four IBM typewriters
• Electric desk calculator
• 128K MacIntosh computer & 512K MacIntosh/Printer (on loan)
• 128K MacIntosh computer/printer (apparently owned by the department)
• TRS-80 computer w/modem