10th Annual Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament

presented by BSN Sports/Nike

Sandy Schumacher was a pioneer of women’s athletics at UW-Eau Claire after arriving at the university in 1968, and was one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1971.

She had a part in starting numerous Blugold athletics programs, conducting the first volleyball and basketball camps for girls at Eau Claire.  Schumacher was the school’s first volleyball coach from 1970-75.

She was also the first Blugold women’s basketball coach, directing the program from 1969-87.  At the time she started coaching, women’s basketball was played with three offensive and three defensive players.

She coached softball when it was a club sport at UW-Eau Claire from 1980-84 and produced five winning seasons before the program became a varsity sport in 1985.  Schumacher served as varsity softball coach in 1993 and 1994.  She was also instrumental in organizing synchronized swimming and field hockey programs at UW-Eau Claire.

After her retirement in 1994, she continued to coach, serving as assistant coach for women’s golf, which became a varsity sport in 1995.  Schumacher was inducted into the UW-Eau Claire Hall of Fame in 1995 and was inducted into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Hall of Fame in 2015.

Sandy battled cancer for more than two decades but lost her battle in 2012. Even in the months just prior to her death, Sandy could be found on the sidelines watching intently at Blugold athletic events. The tournament was re-named the Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament following her passing to honor her memory and contributions to Blugold Athletics.

Participating Teams