In the mid-1940s, Frances Hogan coached a small club field hockey team that worked out at Kenan Stadium following football and band practices — often facing hecklers from male counterparts on the field. Hogan, a UNC instructor at the time, never grew flustered, staying strong and focused for more than 30 years with the hope that women would one day have an equal playing field with the men on campus.
In 1971-72, she got her wish. Credited as the Mother of Women's Sports at Carolina, Hogan, the first Associate Athletics Director for Women's Sports at UNC, was the woman behind the genesis of the first seven teams to gain varsity status that year: basketball, field hockey, volleyball, fencing, swimming and diving, tennis and gymnastics.