Alcides "Cid" Carvalho graduated with his degree in Physical Education from Winthrop
College in 1981, adding a Master of Science degree in 1989. The Sao Paulo, Brazil
native played in the number one slot for the varsity tennis during his undergraduate
career. After graduating from Winthrop, Cid served as tennis Director for the City
of Rock Hill from 1983 through 1997. In 1986, he was named head women's tennis coach
and in 1987, head men's tennis coach for Winthrop, making this his 21st season.
His winning percentage over the 21 years as head women's coach is .620 with 222 victories to 136 loses. His women's teams have won the Big South Conference Championship nine times with two runner-up finishes. In 2000, he took the women's team to its first ever NCAA tournament appearance, and made repeat appearances in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. He has been voted Big South Conference Women's Coach of the Year nine times. In his 20 year career as the men's coach, Coach Carvalho has a .651 winning percentage with 244 wins and 131 loses. His men's teams have won three Big South titles and finished as runner-up six times. Under his leadership, the men's team earned its first NCAA bid in 2004 and returned to the tournament in 2005. He has been named Men's Coach of the Year for the Big South three times.
One of the most common sites on Winthrop's campus is Cid coaching on the tennis courts. His passion is tennis and he has shared this passion with hundreds of athletes in his career from children on the City of Rock Hill courts to adults at the tennis complex. He was awarded the title of "High Performance Coach" by the USTA's player Development Program in 2000. He is a member of the U.S. Professional Tennis Registry, the South Carolina Professional Tennis Association, where he continues to compete in doubles and mixed doubles, and U.S. Professional Tennis Association. He is a past member of the NCAA Division I Regional Advisory Committee.
As much as the faculty and staff are excited by the upcoming completion of the West Center, we all miss the sound and sight of Cid's athletes on the tennis courts outside of our offices. One of the great pleasures of Peabody was to watch Cid coach quality players in tennis. He is a master teacher, a great coach, but more importantly a quality human being. Two of the players we use to watch him coach were Joseph and Gabriela Carvalho. Joseph is 21 and plays for the University of the South and Gabriela is 19 and plays for Virginia Tech. Cid is married to the former Sherri Houston from Easley, South Carolina.