Berry M. Whitaker
In 1914, after graduating from Indiana University with a degree in physical education, Berry M. Whitaker accepted a job offer to start a physical education program in the Austin public schools. With his athletic background (he was named to the Indiana All-State College team in 1913 along with Knute Rockne), he was asked to coach the football team at Austin High School. After winning two unofficial state high school championships, University of Texas Athletic Director L. Theo Bellmont hired Mr.Whitaker in 1916 to found a men’s intramural program at the university.
During the early years, the Intramural Department was housed in the basement of “Old Main Building” and was organized into fraternity and departmental divisions. Sports included baseball, basketball, football, track and field, cross-country, handball and tennis. Old Clark Field (now Taylor Hall) was used for outdoor activities.
In addition to his intramural duties, Mr. Whitaker was asked to assist with the UT football team in 1917. After leaving for two years to serve his country in World War I, he returned to the university in 1919 to resume his former job in intramurals. Without warning, the returning veteran was handed the head football coaching job by Mr. Bellmont. Coach Whitaker’s team posted a 22-3-1 record over the next three years including “one of the early Southwest Conference epics,” a 7-3 victory over the Texas A & M Aggies in 1920. After a 7-2 season in 1922, Coach Whitaker announced his resignation. “I’m too thin-skinned and too conscientious. Defeats kill me. I was coming down with ulcers and that kind of thing. I didn’t intend to stay in the coaching game in the first place.” With those words, Coach Whitaker returned to his beloved intramurals, serving as director of the men’s program until he retired in 1960.
In 1922 the Intramural Program was separated from athletics and incorporated into the Physical Training Department; in 1930 it became part of the Division of Student Life. With the opening of Gregory Gym in 1930, indoor baseball, team handball and swimming begun. Also, in 1930, “Fite Night” made its debut and carried on until 1952 when “Sports Nite” was initiated with the elimination of boxing. Throughout Mr. Whitaker’s career, the program grew as more and more students participated. New sports added included free throw (1931), touch football (1933), volleyball (1934), ping pong and water polo (1937), badminton (1938), novice boxing (1939), soccer (1945), and squash and fencing (1951).
In 1949 the first steps were taken to form The University of Texas Sports Association, an organization designed to promote non-intercollegiate sports within the university and extramural competition. Such sports as volleyball, softball, soccer, handball, badminton, squash, table tennis, weightlifting and gymnastics were the first clubs of this kind, under Whitaker’s guidance, to compete separately from intramurals.
Perhaps Berry Whitaker’s greatest legacy is seen on the Wall of Fame in Gregory Gym. This record of the men’s intramural champions and runners-up dating from 1919 to the present represents the dream that Mr. Whitaker had when he came to the university: “ a sport for every man and every man in a sport.” Mr.Whitaker, “the grand old man on intramurals”, retired in 1960 after 54 years of service to the students at The University of Texas at Austin.
Eight years after his retirement, the intramural fields were moved from campus to 51st and Guadalupe streets and named after Berry Whitaker. Since it’s opening, the outdoor sports complex has been the site for thousands of intramural contests and special events annually. Today, the fields await a much overdue renovation to take place in the Fall of 2015. The facility’s anticipated re-opening is scheduled for late Fall 2016 and will be renamed Charles Alan Wright Fields at the Berry M. Whitaker Sports Complex.