Caroline Matthews

When Carolyn Lett Matthews attended Jacksonville High School in the late 1950s and early 1960s as Carolyn Casey, there were no opportunities for high school girls in Alabama to compete against

one another in interscholastic sports contests. Girls were limited to intramural activities and cheering for boys’ teams. Matthews cheered for two years before graduating from Jacksonville High in 1961.

While Matthews was earning an undergraduate degree from Jacksonville State in 1966, she was a member of the PE Majors Club and began considering the benefits of athletic competition. When she began teaching, she wanted to see more opportunities for sports competitions for girls. 

After teaching one year each at three different schools, Matthews found the school she wanted in 1970. Weaver Junior High was transitioning to a 12-grade high school and Matthews had a chance

to start competitive sports programs for girls. She began with cheerleaders in 1970 and continued to coach them through 1978. From 1972 through 1977, Weaver’s cheerleaders were named All-Star Cheerleaders at the AHSAA summer cheerleading clinic in Tuscaloosa – one of the highest honors a cheer squad could achieve.

In 1971, Matthews started a track program for Weaver’s girls from scratch. Volleyball came next in 1975. Matthews initiated an unofficial gymnastics program in the mid-1970s. She continued to

coach both track and volleyball through 1979. During that time, her track program produced at least three state meet champions and five additional medal winners. 

When Matthews began nurturing her girls athletic programs at Weaver, male coaches coaching sports for boys – football, basketball, baseball, track – received coaching supplements to at

least partially compensate them for the additional hours they spent coaching.

Women coaching sports for girls received no supplements. In fact, the coaches were expected to raise money for uniforms, travel and food or pay for those basic needs out of pocket themselves. Many other women coaching at schools in the Calhoun County Schools system were dissatisfied with the system and encouraged Matthews to speak to the county system superintendent on their behalf. Her negotiations eventually produced the coaching supplements for girls’ sports that everyone now takes for granted. 

article written by Joe Estep