An all-star athlete, Texan Emilie Burrer Foster (b.1947) focused her talents on tennis in high school and became 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.' "

Texas High School Large Class Singles Champion 1965, and Texas Tennis Player of the year 1965

U.S. Girls' 18 Doubles Finalist 1965

Member, U.S. Junior Wightman Cup Team 1966-1968; Player of the Year 1968; Team Captain 1969

Member, U.S.Tennis Team, Pan American Games 1967

U.S. Collegiate Singles Champion 1968, 1969

U.S. Collegiate Doubles Champion 1968, 1969

Member, U.S. Collegiate Championship Team, Trinity University 1968, 1969

U.S. Amateur Women's Doubles Champion 1969

U.S. OPEN Doubles Semifinalist, Singles Quarterfinalist 1969

Graduate work at Arizona State University 1969-70;assistant to the women's tennis coach Anne Pittman

Tennis Coach and Physical Education Instructor, Texas Tech University 1970 -1978

Team Member, Houston EZ Riders, World Team Tennis 1974

Tennis Coach and Physical Education Instructor, Trinity University 1978 - 1990 (259-94 record)

Winner of the ITA Division I Coach of the Year Award 1983

Advisory Board Member, Nike 1979-1988; Head Racquet 1980-1989

ITA Board of Directors 1982-1989

Director, Rolex Invitational Collegiate Tennis Championship (top 32 men and women) 1984-1988

Winner of the USTA Educational Merit Award 1987

Member, USTA Player Development Task Force and Committee 1987-1989

Member, San Antonie Tennis Association Board of Directors 1990-1992

Inducted into the Lubbock Christian university Athletic Hall of Fame 1994

Consultant, Sport and Therapy Advantage, San Antonio 1991-1995

Director, Biomechanics and Sport Training, The Palestra Center, San Antonio 1996 - present