Barbara Jacket


Barbara J. Jacket is an American retired track and field coach. She was the women's track and field head coach for Prairie View A&M from 1965 to 1991. While with the university, Jacket won ten National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics titles and was promoted to athletic director in 1990. Apart from college athletics, Jacket was the second African-American woman to become an Olympic head coach for the United States when she coached the American women's track and field team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Jacket was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

Early life and education

On December 26, 1934, Jacket was born in Port Arthur, Texas with two siblings. For her post-secondary education, Jacket went to Tuskegee University with a basketball scholarship and obtained a Physical Education Bachelor of Science in 1958. She later received a Master of Education at Prairie View A&M University in 1968.

Career

Jacket began her coaching career teaching basketball in Eufaula, Alabama and Port Arthur, Texas before joining Prairie View A&M as a swimming instructor in 1964. The following year, Jacket established the Prairie View A&M Panthers and Lady Panthers track and field team in 1965 as their head coach. During her coaching tenure with Prairie View A&M until 1991, Jacket was the winning coach of ten National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championships and fourteen Southwestern Athletic Conference titles in track and field. Outside of college athletics, Jacket was the head coach of the United States national track and field team in multiple events from the 1970s to 1980s, which included the 1979 Pan American Games, 1987 World Championships in Athletics and 1992 Summer Olympics. Her Olympic appointment made Jacket the second ever African-American woman Olympic head coach for the United States in history. Apart from coaching, Jacket was the athletic director for Prairie View A&M from 1990 to 1995 and taught health for the university during the 2000s. Jacket ended her career with Prairie View A&M in 2010 upon retirement.

Personal life

Jacket was arrested in 1990 on the charges of document fraud and misconduct.

Awards and honors

Jacket was inducted into the Prairie View A&M University Sports Hall Of Fame in 1992. Additionally, Jacket was named into include the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association hall of fame in 2001.