It was during the early 1980s that UW- Eau Claire proposed for women’s sports to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Women’s sports had transformed from one sport with sixteen players in 1969 to twelve sports with three hundred and fifty players.
Today, women’s sports at UWEC consist of gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, basketball, outdoor and indoor track and field, cross country, softball, soccer, golf, and hockey. Overall, UW- Eau Claire women’s sports have won seventy conference titles and six national championships.
The success of the women’s basketball program at UWEC has been attributed to its consistent leadership. In its fifty years, the women’s basketball program has only had three coaches. Sandy Schumacher was the first coach for women’s basketball and focused on creating a scene of teamwork. Lisa Stone continued Sandy Schumacher’s team building approach by promoting team unity. Tonja Englund, the current basketball coach, is on a roll with over twenty years' experience, four WIAC Championships and five NCAA tournament appearances. As of 2022 Tonja Englund's record is 376-212, a winning percentage of .632. Englund's almost 400 wins puts her in the top five most wins in WIAC history.
"I was blessed to be part of four very successful years of Blugold Women's Basketball. My favorite memory was running out to a packed Zorn Arena and playing in the Final Four during my junior year. I loved how much the community supported us, despite being a women's team. Not all women's teams at UWEC or even around the conference were blessed enough to have this kind of support, because the men's teams typically got it. As much as we needed and appreciated the support from the community, I think the community needed us too. Our team gave the community something special to come together for. However, our success and these amazing experiences were only made possible because of the players and coaches who came before us. It was because of their struggles, sacrifices, and hard work in the early years of women's athletics that provided my generation of players opportunities that we saw as commonplace and took for granted."
- Arlene Meinholz Beardsly, Women's 50th Anniversary: Basketball - Eau Claire
