ROCK HILL, S.C. – After more than 30 years and 21 Big South Conference championships at the helm of the Winthrop women's tennis program, head coach Cid Carvalho officially announced his retirement Thursday afternoon.
 
"I felt since I got here as a player that Winthrop University and the people here and the city of Rock Hill really accepted me as one of their own, so I found a home and I found a family," said Carvalho. "[My wife] Sherri and I raised both of our kids here and it has been a wonderful place to raise my family and work here at Winthrop as the tennis coach. But I never really felt it was work. Being here with my family, developing this program, bringing in the players and getting to know them, a lot of them are great friends of mine now. So it's been a great ride and I feel really blessed to have been able to be a part of this. I think once an Eagle, always an Eagle so although I'm retiring I'm hoping to stay involved with the program and help the coaches and the tennis programs and athletics department as I move forward."
 
A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Carvalho took the reins of both the men's and women's tennis programs beginning with the 1985-86 season, coaching both teams for 26 seasons, one as an assistant while working on his master's degree. The duties of the two positions were divided on July 1, 2011, and Carvalho led the women's team only for the next eight seasons. A 1981 Winthrop graduate with a degree in physical education, Carvalho was also a tennis student-athlete and went on to earn his master's degree from Winthrop in 1989.
  Carvalho has led the women to 21 Big South Conference Championship titles (1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) with three runner-up finishes. No other league member, current or former, has won more than three tournament titles. The women have been regular season champions 20 times. Carvalho's women's squads have earned 17 NCAA Tournament bids and in 2018 made program history with their first-ever NCAA win, a 4-3 victory over No. 20 Auburn. Winthrop takes on Oklahoma on Sat., May 4 at 10 a.m. in the 2019 NCAA Tournament first round.
 
"I'm sure once I finish everything it will be a more of a reaction and it will be a lot of fun to look back on all of the things we have accomplished. But right now I think 99% of the space in my head is filled by getting ready for this next match against Oklahoma," said Carvalho, with his trademark smile and chuckle.
 
Under Carvalho, the men's program captured eight regular season championships (1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011), five tournament titles (1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010) and 11 runner-up finishes.
 
He has been voted Big South Conference women's Coach of the Year 11 times (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2018, 2019), and men's Coach of the Year three times (1997, 2002, 2004).
 
"I think we've been blessed with a lot of really good players and assistant coaches and that's where the success comes from," Carvalho explained. "I'm always amazed by the quality of the players when they get here and how hard they work, and also the assistant coaches I've had, how good they are and how much knowledge they have and ability to help the players with the goals they have… What's so beautiful about Winthrop is that everybody helps you. You don't feel like you're separated as a women's tennis team. You feel like you're part of a whole family. If one of my players is having trouble, there are professors, there are people in the athletic department and people on campus all helping the player. The players here all feel that. This building up of caring, the care that they feel here is a crucial ingredient to the success that we've had in the past. They felt like they were well taken care of here."

"I can't even begin to describe how lucky I am that part of my career got to overlap with Cid's," said Dr. Ken Halpin, vice president for intercollegiate athletics. "I'm thankful he didn't retire before I got here so I had an opportunity to work with a true legend like him; he's the epitome of the word legend. He will forever be a part of this university. He stands for building leaders and championships."

Highly respected in the tennis community, Carvalho was awarded the title of "High Performance Coach" by the USTA's Player Development Program in 2000. He has many years of teaching experience and served as tennis director of the City of Rock Hill from 1983 through 1997. He is a member of the U.S. Professional Tennis Registry, the South Carolina Professional Tennis Association and the United States Professional Tennis Association. He is a past member of the NCAA Division I Regional Advisory Committee where he served for eight years. As a college player, Carvalho held the top flight for Winthrop. He has also been ranked in the top spot in doubles and mixed doubles in South Carolina.

"I love tennis. I love the sport, I love everything about it. As I got older I really enjoyed passing what I know to young players who are trying to learn because I think that's very important," Carvalho reflected. "I'm going to a new phase in my life where I'm hoping to still help with the little things I know about it…What's important is that you're still serving and still helping people out with what you got so that's what I hope to do. Although I'm not going to be the head coach anymore, I'm still going to be helping the community and the players, the tennis programs that parks and recreation has, the tennis programs that Winthrop is going to have, I hope to be here and be involved with all those things."

Carvalho shared that in retirement he looks forward to spending more time with his family, including wife Sherri, son Joseph, daughter Gabriela, and especially two-month-old grandson, Harris.

Winthrop competes in its 17^th NCAA Tournament under Carvalho beginning this Saturday, facing Oklahoma in the first round. Match time is 10 a.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C. at UNC's Cone KenField Tennis Center.