For those who want to put a visual on Title IX and 40 years of Rainbow Wahine athletics, picture a pair of roses still blooming after more than three decades. Picture the University of Hawaii doubles tennis team of Rosie (Vera Cruz) Bareis and Rose (Thomas) Jones from the early 1980s.

They are Hawaii’s poster children for what is possible when women athletes — who celebrate their anniversary at the annual UH banquet tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center — receive the opportunities Title IX provided.

"The biggest gift that
I got from attending
the UH was the know-
ledge that learning
never ends, it can
only enhance your life.
Even if it’s learning
more about tennis."

— Rosie (Vera Cruz) Bareis

The 37-word amendment, which prohibited discrimination in any "education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance," became law in 1972. It was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act 30 years later, when the former Hawaii congresswoman who authored it died.

It was the impetus for the unique accomplishments of Wahine volleyball, which has won four national championships and is the only revenue-producing volleyball program in the country. It also gave a huge push to people like soccer player Natasha Kai, who would go on to win an Olympic gold medal, and Jenna Rodriguez, who hit the walk-off homer two years ago that sent Hawaii to its first Women’s College World Series.

Bareis and Thomas, out of Kailua and Kalani high schools, have enjoyed success in both athletics and in business because of those 37 words. They thrived in college, thanks in large part to Title IX and tennis. Some 30 years later, both are thriving professionally, thanks in large part to the Mink Act, tennis and UH.

"I love driving by a
soccer field and see-
ing all these little 4-
year- old girls chasing
the ball with their fathers
cheering from the side-
line. That’s not some-
thing you saw 40 years
ago.

— Rose (Thomas) Jones

"There’s no greater feeling than to represent your school in an athletic competition," Bareis said. "I can’t believe it’s been almost 30 years ago. Wow, I loved every day, every minute of the journey.

"The biggest gift that I got from attending the UH was the knowledge that learning never ends, it can only enhance your life. Even if it’s learning more about tennis."

The two women were drastically different and astonishingly dominant. Bareis would have never gone to college but for tennis. Jones, who helped Kalani win two state high school titles, would become the 1984 Jack Bonham Award winner, with a 3.74 grade-point average.

She compiled 225 wins in singles and doubles. Bareis had 204, with nearly 100 on the same court as the woman who would be her bridesmaid. The two were named captains as freshmen and played No. 1 doubles all four years.

The Wahine won 50 straight matches in the middle of their careers, going unbeaten in 1982 and posting a record of 41-4 the following year.

With "The Roses," UH was 138-14 and won 12 tournaments. That included the 1982 Sugar Bowl, where Bareis and Jones accounted for all the points to edge out the six-player Arizona State squad. As sophomores, they lost a 2 1/2 -hour doubles match to eventual national champion Stanford in an AIAW regional.

"Without a doubt," former UH coach Jim Schwitters said a few years ago, "Rose and Rosie changed the face of UH women’s intercollegiate tennis as it existed in the 1970s and early ’80s. They brought a ‘man’s game’ — big serves, crushing net play and aggressive ground strokes … and forced success on teammates by establishing virtually all the tennis records."

Most memorably, they were unbeaten in Hawaii doubles from 1978 to 1987. They defeated opponents of every age and from all over the globe and were included in Hawaii Tennis News’ "Top 10 Hawaii Players of the Century."

"Playing doubles with Rosie was so much fun," Jones recalled. "She’d do a handstand to get the blood to her head if she made a silly error. We communicated really well and seemed to know what the other was going to do. Rosie really was the catalyst though, she’s such an amazing athlete. My ideal point would be to chip a ball low crosscourt so that Rosie could sweep across the net and poach a winner.

"Losing never crossed our minds. It sounds simple, but it’s true. …It gave me confidence. It taught me hard work pays off."

They were perfect complements on the court: Jones steady, low-key, left-handed and lanky, setting up points, Bareis relentless and with reckless abandon, finishing them off. Both were driven and extremely competitive, which Bareis traces to coming from big families: "Trust me it was a competition just to get seconds at the dinner table."

But there was also lots of laughter and even more trust, along with a shared passion for tennis that is still in them and has inspired successful careers.

Jones calls the partnership "a huge gift in my life." She moved to the mainland in 1990 to take a job with Prince and now lives in Spokane, Wash., with her two young sons and a husband who just climbed Mt. Everest. She has thrived in sales, with Babolat and Tail tennis and golf her largest lines. She was Babolat’s sales rep of the year in 2011 and covers seven states, including Hawaii.

Bareis credits her former teammate for being the gift that keeps on giving, inspiring her to choose "great partners in my life."

After coaching Hawaii Pacific and running the tennis program at the Oahu Club, she was offered a job at the Harbor Bay Club, on San Francisco Bay, in 1995. For the past nine years, she has been director of tennis at the legendary Claremont Hotel Club & Spa in Oakland.

"Nine years and loving every day of my life," said Bareis, who has two grown daughters and a grandson. "I get to wake up to hit tennis balls and get paid $100 an hour. Life is good."

She calls tennis "the greatest sport on the planet" and describes her job as equal parts "psychologist, motivational speaker, doctor and creator. I teach life skills through my sport and try to get people to love tennis as much as I do."

Bareis and Jones have been away a long time, but both still consider Hawaii home and return often. Bareis owns three houses here and Jones, whose mother still lives in the house she grew up in, commutes here for work.

But mostly, they return for family, friends, food and to smell the lilikoi and ginger when they run the Tantalus trails. When they are here, it is as if they have never left.

For all that, they are infinitely thankful to tennis, the University of Hawaii and Title IX.

"There are so many more opportunities for girls in a variety sports," Jones said. "Title IX gave girls the opportunity to get an education and continue to compete in their chosen sport. I love driving by a soccer field and seeing all these little 4-year-old girls chasing a ball with their fathers cheering from the sideline. That is not something you saw 40 years ago.

"The perception of female athletes has changed too. Women have become more empowered in the business world as a result of the lessons learned in competing in athletics."