On the Playing Field : Women in Sports

Rider women's sports have a long history going back to 1924, when the Rider Women's basketball team was established. By the late 1920s, the team was coached by the well-known coach Clair Bee, who came to Rider in 1927 and coached both the women's and men's teams. Rider basketball had its first woman coach in 1936, Rita Burdette.

As other women's sports were added on in the coming decades, including Women's Archery, which existed in the 1940s-1950s, Rider women's athletics became more firmly established. There are currently nine Women's Varsity sports: basketball, cross country, field hockey, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball.