William Jewell College Athletics

William Jewell College is the fifth oldest institution for higher education in the state of Missouri and with that comes a long standing tradition of excellence in athletics. The first known athletic team on campus was baseball in 1883 when the team was organized and financed entirely by students. Football followed shortly after, with the first intercollegiate game taking place in 1888 by a team of only 11 players. In the early days, there was no NCAA, no NAIA. Often a professor or fellow student would serve as the "coach". A team manager was elected to handle responsibility of fundraising, scheduling, and other details that would today be handled by a full-time coach or athletic director. 

Men's basketball, track and field, and tennis became popular around the turn of the century and were each added the William Jewell campus. Following World War II, the Cardinals brought in men's golf, wrestling, swimming, soccer, and cross country. 

WOMEN'S ATHLETICS
With the onslaught of World War I enlistment taking a large portion of young men overseas in addition to a woman's college in town having been destroyed by fire the young women in the Liberty area were looking for a place to call home. After much debate and controversy William Jewell College began admitting women in 1921. Shortly after, the first women's basketball team formed but unfortunately lasted only two years before disbanding. Around the nation, in the mid 20th century it was widely considered that women were not emotionally suited for competitive sports and that it would make child-bearing difficult, and thus women's athletics consisted primarily in the form of intramurals and 'play days'. 

Things changed quickly on The Hill in the summer of 1963 with the arrival of one Carlene Basore. A standout tennis player, Basore had been turned down by another Missouri college for a chance to play on the men's team as no women's teams existed at the time. However when Dr. Norris Patterson examined the conference regulations he could find no rules restricting competition to men only and welcomed Basore to the team. She went on to become a team captain and earn four varsity letters at No. 1 singles. She was also the major reason for the rewriting of rules and regulations by NAIA in the 1960s after she qualified for the men's national tournament and advanced to the second round. Following Basore's attendance and the emergence of Title IX of the Educational Amendment Act of 1972, William Jewell began to see more and more opportunity for young women in the field of competition. Today Jewell sponsors 12 women's varsity programs, including powerlifting, wrestling and lacrosse which were all added since 2020.

R.E. 'DAD' BOWLES
No single family in William Jewell's long history has been so involved in the affairs of the College and in athletics as the R.E. 'Dad' Bowles family. 'Dad' Bowles was a 1912 graduate of William Jewell and went on to become the first full-time coach and athletic director with faculty status in the College's history. He won a total of 50 conference championships and was elected to the NAIA Football Hall of Fame. In addition, all five of his children, Bob, Chester, Renile, Richard, and Sylvia (cheerleading), were student-athletes at Jewell. To this day a portrait of 'Dad' hangs in the Mabee Center and the avenue which runs from one end of the athletic facilities to the other, the length of the the football stadium, past the Mabee Center, and out to the baseball field is named in his honor as the 'father' of Jewell athletics.