An all-star athlete, Texan Emilie Burrer Foster (b.1947) focused her talents on tennis in high school and became a state champion. After two years at Lubbock Christian University, where she reached the semifinals in national collegiate doubles, she transferred to Trinity University and emerged as a tennis powerhouse. The only collegiate player to win back-to-back singles and doubles titles, Foster also led her Trinity team to national titles in 1968 and 1969.

Foster coached at Texas Tech University for eight years, taking the team from club to varsity status without benefit of athletic scholarships. Returning to her alma mater in 1978, Foster reached the national finals twice, won ITA Coach of the Year honors in 1983, and coached 12 All-Americans, including 1983 collegiate and Pan American doubles winners Gretchen Rush and Louise Allen. Honoring her unyielding competitive spirit, one friend wrote of Foster: “She embodies the words ‘true grit.’ ”