Hendrix College Athletics

Betty Jean (Sugg) Courtway was born in Memphis, Tenn., and graduated from Wynne High School in 1947. In 1948, Betty married Bob Courtway. She joined him in Conway where they both attended Arkansas State Teacher’s College, now the University of Central Arkansas. At ASTC, Betty played for the women’s tennis team. Although the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference did not formally recognize women’s tennis at the time, she teamed with Billie Jean Jones to win the unofficial AIC women’s doubles championship in 1949 and won the women’s singles championship the following year.

In 1950, the Courtways taught and coached in public
schools in Holly Grove and Wilson, Ark. In 1961, Bob was hired by Hendrix College. After completing her undergraduate degree at ASTC in 1964, Betty began teaching kindergarten at First Baptist Church and for 20 years in the Conway Public Schools, where she retired in 1993. During that period, Betty was involved in numerous school and civic activities. She helped Bob start Aquakids, an age group swimming program for Conway and Faulkner County children. She also helped start the Hendrix Learn to Swim Program to teach third-grade students in the Conway Public Schools how to swim, and volunteered at countless Hendrix swim and dive meets.

Betty currently resides in Conway in the same house in the Hendrix College Addition the family purchased in 1964. She remains active in the community by volunteering at the Conway Regional Medical Center, the Faulkner County Library, and the First United Methodist Church. She enjoys exercising, bird watching, and keeping up with her 12 grandchildren.