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Jenny Allard, the Ivy League's longest-tenured coach and one of its most successful, just wrapped up her 15th season as head coach of the Harvard softball program in 2009. Allard owns a 415-288-1 overall record, including a 153-63 Ivy League mark.

Team and individual success have gone hand in hand during Allard�s tenure. All four of Harvard�s Ivy League titles, each of its four 30-win seasons and its three NCAA Championship berths have come under the watch of Allard, who at the end of the season will has now led Harvard softball for half of the program�s existence.

Allard�s teams have produced 36 first-team, 37 second-team and 29 honorable mention All-Ivy selections, as well as four Ivy League Players of the Year, three Ivy Pitchers of the Year and three Ivy Rookies of the Year.

In 1998, Allard led the Crimson to the most successful season in the history of the program, as the team recorded a 34-22 record, captured its first Ivy League championship with a perfect 12-0 league record and earned its first bid to the NCAA Championship, where it defeated Boston College in the regional.

Dianne Baker, who retired following the 2005 season after 30 years of coaching, built Texas Woman’s University into one of the top programs in NCAA Division II.

Baker returned to her alma mater after a 17-year stint as the head coach and assistant athletics director at Stephen F. Austin State, where she led the Ladyjacks to an NCAA Division II national championship in 1986.

In addition to her coaching experience, Baker is the author of two best selling books, "Winning Softball Drills" and "Winning Softball Practice Manual and Drills."

In 2004, Baker became Schutt Sports’ National Promotions Manager for Softball/Baseball.

In 2000, Baker was given the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Award, one of the association’s highest honors.

Baker is a member of both the Stephen F. Austin and Texas Woman's University Halls of Fame and was also inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 1998.

Head Coach Gayle Blevins is entering her 23nd season at the University of Iowa and her 31st season as a collegiate head coach. Blevins enters the 2010 season as the second winningest coach in Division I history with a record of 1,220-565-5.

As a head coach, Blevins has led her teams to seven Women's College World Series appearances (four at Iowa), won eight Big Ten titles (five at Iowa), been named both the Big Ten and National Coach of the Year and has been inducted into both the Indiana University and NFCA Halls of Fame. Blevins enters the 2010 season as the Big Ten's winningest coach with 496 conference wins.

Blevins became the second winningest coach in NCAA softball history during the 2009 season, leading Iowa to a 42-16 overall record. She picked up win No. 1,219 to move into second place, with a 2-0 victory over Minnesota May 9. Blevins led the Hawkeyes to their 16th NCAA tournament appearance as well.

As a player, coach and administrator, Cindy Bristow has more than 36 years of softball experience.

As a coach, Bristow had stints at Arizona State, New Mexico State and Wichita State; and also spent five years coaching the Women's Professional Softball League's Florida Wahoos. In 2000, the Wahoos were WPSL World Champions and Bristow was named WPSL Coach of the Year.

For seven years, Bristow was the Director of Junior Olympic Softball for the Amateur Softball Association, where she oversaw all youth softball in the United States. While in this position, she was also co-creator of the ASA's VIP Coaches Education Program.

Once softball became an Olympic Sport, Bristow became the Director of National Teams and Coaching Development for USA Softball. It was in this role that she helped guide the selection of the United States' first-ever Olympic Softball team that won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games.

Most recently, Bristow worked for the International Softball Federation (ISF) as its Director of Development working with over 126 countries to increase their level of coaching and play.

Bristow is also the owner of Softball Excellence, a website that provides softball instructional information.

Bruggeman has just completed her fourth season as Associate Head Coach of the Louisville Cardinals. During that time, U of L has earned four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, won two Big East Championships and earned several Top 25 rankings, reaching as high as No. 14.

Additionally, during her time at Louisville, the Cardinals have set school records for most wins with 45 in 2006 and then 48 in 2009.

Bruggeman achieved her 500th career win on Feb. 14, 2009, when the Cards defeated Nevada 3-2 in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. She now has a 541-374-2 mark in her 16-year career.

She and her coaching staff were named Big East Conference coaching staff of the year in 2006. In addition to various other duties, Bruggeman's primary responsibilities include recruiting and working with the defense. In two of the past four years, the Cardinals defense finished the season ranked in the Top 30 nationally in team defensive fielding percentage.

Bruggeman's previous coaching stops included Purdue University (head coach), the University of Michigan (assistant coach) and the University of Iowa (graduate assistant). She earned numerous accolades as a student-athlete at the University of Iowa and was inducted into the Iowa Softball Association Hall of Fame.

In 2006, she was elected president of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. From 1996-2000, Bruggeman was also on the NFCA Board of Directors as the Division I Representative.

In conjuction with her coaching duties, Bruggeman is very involved with various professional opportunities including speaking at national softball clinics, authoring chapters in books, TV broadcasts and producing softball videos.

In the last 22 years, Mike Candrea has taken his team to the Women's College World Series 20 times and won eight national titles. His teams have made 22 out of 23 trips to the NCAA tournament, and 20 out of 21 trips to the WCWS. Candrea has been named Pac-10 coach of the year or co-coach of the year nine times.

Since 1988, Candrea's third year in Tucson, UA has reached the WCWS every year with the exception of 2004 (19 of the last 20 years).

He has helped propel Team USA to a perfect record of 9-0 and the gold medal in the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, as well as a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He also has led the USA Women's National Team to two World Cup titles (2006 and 2007) and two Canada Cup titles (2002 and 2007).

Candrea is sought out by softball and baseball coaches around the country and has delivered instructional clinics throughout the nation, including participating as an NFCC instructor. He is particularly known for hitting techniques, team fielding drills and squad motivaional preparation. In recent years, he has consulted with major league baseball stars and other learned technicians to conduct national hitting clinics, and he participates in dozens of such sessions to help improve the way softball is taught and played. He was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 1996.

Susan Craig retired as the 14th winningest coach in NCAA Division I history after she led New Mexico in the 2002 season. In 17 different seasons, she coached her alma mater to national rankings. Craig won 673 games in her career, and was the 1999 WAC Coach of the Year.

Craig has authored a pair of books on softball strategy. "The Softball Handbook" is used as a standard tool for teaching fundamentals.

She is currently president of a company called Athletic Advantage, which focuses on speed and agility and specializes in improving athletic movement. Softball clinics and fastpitch lessons are available upon request.

An assistant coach for the silver medal-winning U.S. Olympic Team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chuck D'Arcy is the first and only person to win a World Championship in both the men's and women's World Championships. He won as a player at the 1980 Men's World Championships and as a coach at the 2006 Women's event.

D'Arcy has served in many assistant coaching capacities for USA Softball, including the 2002 Junior Women's National Team that won Pan Am gold in Jermosillo, Mexico and the 2003 Junior Women's National Team that won silver at the ISF Junior Women's World Championship in Nanjing, China.

Named as an assistant coach for the 2005-08 squad for the USA Softball Women's National Team, D'Arcy was part of the staff that led the U.S. to its first World Cup title in Oklahoma City in 2006 and helped guide Team USA to its sixth consecutive gold medal at this year's ISF Women's World Championships and a Japan Cup gold medal.

A unanimous selection into the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame in 1997, D'Arcy posted a perfect 6-0 record in international competition as a pitcher and participated in 21 ASA Men's Major national championships as well as eight Olympic Festivals. A member of the 1981 World Games gold medalists for Team USA, he was a six-time All-American with a career record of 1,092-250 for a winning percentage of .813 to go along with a 30-year career ERA of 0.85.

Carie Dever-Boaz served as the head coach of National Pro Fastpitch's Washington Glory until the franchise folded and subsequently relocated following the 2008 season. Dever-Boaz went to the nation's capital in 2007 after spending the previous two years as an Assistant Coach at the University of Virginia where she coached under UVA head coach and USA Olympic Team coach Karen Johns. In just her first season with the Glory, she was named the NPF's Coach of the Year.

She spent the 2005 softball season as the Gator�s offensive and fielder�s coach at University of Florida. Other career highlights include coaching at University of South Carolina under Joyce Compton from 1993-1995. Prior to that, she served as the leader and head coach of the softball program for eight years at Arkansas. While there she compiled five Southeastern Conference Tournament appearances and two NCAA Regional Berths.

In 1999, she was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Razorbacks to a 46-29 record, and a runner-up finish in the conference tournament. While occupying the head coaching position, she coached eight All-SEC players, one All-Region performer and two NCAA Regional All-Tournament players.

Dever-Boaz conducts international softball clinics in Holland for coaches as well as players. She has appeared as a feature speaker and instructor for various well-known clinics throughout the world. In addition, Dever-Boaz authored the book "The Art of Pitching" as well as five instructional softball videos.

Kate Drohan just completed her eighth year at Northwestern's helm after building the program into one of the nation's best and leading the Wildcats to back-to-back Women's College World Series semifinal appearances in 2006-07. In 2009, NU finished 31-15 and was eliminated in regional play. Drohan took over the 'Cats after serving as an assistant under legendary head coach Sharon Drysdale for four seasons. In 2008 Drohan's squad went 40-16 and once again advanced to the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament.

After eight seasons, Drohan's career record of 318-135-1 gives her a .702 winning percentage -- ranking her 14th in winning percentage among active Division I head coaches with a minimum of five years at the DI level. In the past five seasons, NU has compiled a combined record of 224-77, reaching the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament five times and becoming the first private school in NCAA history to advance to the WCWS semifinals in consecutive years.

Drohan already has cemented her status as one of the best coaches in Big Ten history, joining legends Drysdale, Carol Hutchins (Michigan) and Gayle Blevins (Indiana/Iowa) as the only coaches to ever take Big Ten schools to the WCWS. Drohan and Hutchins are the only two to make the final pairing.

Drohan's twin sister Caryl is the Associate Head Coach for NU. They were both part of a coaching staff which earned National Staff of the Year honors in 2006 by the NFCA.

Drohan took over a squad that finished 20-25 in 2001, and led it to a 24-18-1 record in her first season in 2002. Building on its above .500 mark, Northwestern qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2003, and has not missed the postseason since.

Sharon Drysdale, director of the National Fastpitch Coaches College, is the driving force behind the NFCC. She has researched and developed all the course content, and is the lead instructor at many course locations.

Before joining the NFCA, Drysdale served as head coach at Northwestern, where she won 590 games on the field that would eventually bear her name. In her 23 years in Evanston, Drysdale guided the Wildcats to five Big 10 titles and three consecutive Women’s College World Series berths while being named the Big Ten Coach of the Year three times.

Prior to her stint at Northwestern, Drysdale served as both the head softball coach and women's athletics director at Kansas, where she won 64 games and led the Jayhawks to four consecutive top 10 finishes in the AIAW softball championship.

Drysdale also serves as the head coach of the New England Riptide of the National Pro Fastpitch League. A 1994 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee, Drysdale guided the Riptide to the 2006 NPF championship.

Bill Edwards has completed 20 seasons as the Hofstra University head softball coach and has been the architect of a program that has grown to national prominence. He has led Hofstra to the regional finals of the NCAA tournament three times in the last six years, and helped the Pride capture 11 straight conference tournament titles from 1998-2008, which is the longest streak in NCAA Division I softball history. His career record stands at 721-351-3 in 20 seasons.

Edwards guided Hofstra to a school-record 45 wins in 2008, including two at the NCAA Regionals in Hempstead as it advanced to the regional finals for the third time. The Pride finished with a 45-13 record, while winning the Colonial Athletic Association regular season and postseason championships, while ending the year ranked 19th in the final NFCA-RPI rankings. Hofstra also reached the regional finals at Alabama in 2005 and at Stanford in 2004, when the Pride won four games and fell just one why shy of reaching the Women's College World Series.

Edwards has been named the NFCA Regional Coach of the Year nine times in his career (1993, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008), including in five of the last six years. His influence has spread far beyond the Hofstra campus, as he has been the featured speaker at softball clinics and conventions throughout the United States. Edwards serves as the chairman for the NCAA Division I All-American committee and is the Colonial Athletic Association representative on the NCAA Legislative Committee.

Karen Johns has served as a head coach at a pair of Division I universities and most recently served as an assistant coach for the silver and medal-winning 2008 U.S. Olympic Teams at the Beijing Games.

Johns won a gold medal as a player for Team USA at Olympic Festivals in 1995, 1994, 1990 and 1989, as well as the ISF World Championships in 1989 and 1994. As a part of the USA Softball coaching staff, Johns was named as an assistant coach for the USA Softball Women's National Team in 2005, when she led Team USA to a runner-up finish at the Canada Cup. In 2006, she served on the staff that led Team USA to its first World Cup title and sixth consecutive World Championship in Beijing, China. In 2007, Johns served as an assistant coach for the Canada Cup, World Cup, Pan American and Japan Cup gold medal teams.

Johns served for five years as head coach at Florida and spent two years as head coach at Virginia, following a five-year stint as an assistant coach at Alabama. A 1989 graudate of South Carolina, Johns was a two-time first-team NFCA All-American catcher for the Gamecocks.

Jacquie Joseph has a passion for developing student-athletes who are successful on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Those values are at the core of the Michigan State softball program and if the results are any indication, Joseph has been a successful teacher.

In 2009, Joseph completed her 16th season as head coach and has guided MSU to a record of 493-429-1 and four NCAA Regional apperances. . In addition, she has mentored 37 All-Big Ten team members, 25 All-Great Lakes Region honorees, nine CoSIDA Academic All-America selections and 81 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. When Joseph was named the fifth head coach in school history, she immediately raised the expectations for the program. MSU has steadily improved under her tutelage, posting three 40-win campaigns and nine 30-win seasons during her tenure.

Coach Eugene Lenti is not a �numbers� guy. Instead, he prefers to teach the game of softball and when the game is done, he leaves everything on the field. However; what Coach Lenti has accomplished in his 28 years at DePaul University, is all about the numbers and it leaves the casual softball fan, colleagues, former and current DePaul student-athletes, potential softball players and sports fans astonished.

In his 28 years in Chicago�s Lincoln Park neighborhood, Lenti has won 1,022 games and since 1999, he has taken four teams to the Women�s College World Series. Although the Blue Demons have been deemed a �Cinderella� each time they have ventured to Oklahoma City; DePaul is one of only five teams since 1999 to have made four or more trips to WCWS.

The glass slipper stigmatism has been shattered by DePaul teams -- 14 have made an appearance in a NCAA Championship and 12 have been crowned regular season conference champions, including the University�s first two Big East Conference championships in 2007 and 2009.

Coach Lenti�s teams are competitive from the first out to the 21st; with his teams playing an exciting, aggressive and fundamentally sound style that is fun to watch. Exceptional pitching has been a staple of Lenti�s program and with the addition of Gold Medalist and USA National Team member, Cat Osterman to the coaching staff in 2007 that trend is sure to continue.

Selected as the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team for the 2009-12 squad in the spring of 2009, Jay Miller recently completed his seventh season as head coach at Mississippi State, and 27th as a Division I head coach. He has taken the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament six of the past seven seasons and was a regional runner-up to Women's College World Series participant Texas in 2005. Miller led the Bulldogs to an NCAA regional apperance in Tallahassee, Fla., this year.

Miller began his coaching career in 1984 at now-NAIA powerhouse Oklahoma City, and became head coach at Missouri in 1987. He led the Tigers to five NCAA tournaments, and advanced to the Women’s College World Series in both 1991 and 1994. His 1997 team captured the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. Miller was named Coach of the Year in the Big Eight in 1990 and 1991, and won the same honor in 1997 as a coach in the Big 12.

An accomplished coach on the internationa level, Miller served as the head coach for the Jr. World National team in 2006 and 2007 and in the summer of 2007, led the USA team to the gold medal in the ISF Junior World Championships. He was also an assistant with the World University Team that captured the Gold Medal in the summer of 2006 in Taiwan. In 2005 he served as an assistant to the USA Elite Team that was runner-up in the Canada Cup and brought home the Gold medal in the Intercontinental Cup in Madrid, Spain. The 2004 season saw Miller lead the U.S. Elite Team to a Gold Medal at the first ever World University Games. Miller led the USA Elite team to a Canada Cup title in 2003, defeating such teams as Australia, China, Chinese Taipei and the No. 1 U.S. team, to name only a few. He previously served as head coach of the 2001 USA Red squad which won Gold in the U.S. Cup and the USA Elite team that took runner-up honors at the 2002 Canada Cup.

An accomplished clinician, Miller has conducted clinics throughout the world and has spoken at all the top national coaches clinics during the past 25 years. Miller was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in December 2008.

Now in his 11th season as the head coach of the Crimson Tide, Patrick Murphy has turned his program into an absolute model of consistency, having guided Alabama softball to 11-consecutive NCAA tournaments, including appearances in the 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 Women's College World Series. Under Murphy's guidance, Alabama has earned three Southeast Conference tournament championships and one SEC championship (2006). Murphy and his staff have been named the Speedline/NFCA South Region Coaching staff of the year four times.

Since taking over prior to the 1999 season, he has compiled a winning record in all 11 seasons. He has won 45 or more games in each of the past 11 years with a program-best 66 victories in 2000 and 63 wins in 2005. Murphy has also won over 20 games in conference play in nine of his 11 seasons in the SEC. The 2008 campaign marked the third time he had posted 25 conference victories, matching the win totals from the 2006 and 2000 seasons.

Murphy has a career record of 607-188 in just over 11 seasons, including one year at Northwest Missouri State. His winning percentage of .764 ranks him fourth among active coaches who have coached at least five years at the Division I level. He has a .774 winning percentage as the head coach at Alabama has been just as successful in the always-competitive SEC with a 224-72 (.753) record. He recently won his 600th career game, which makes him one of only two coaches in the SEC to accomplish that feat in 12 years. Over the last 10 years, Murphy has won more than any other SEC coach.

As the team's hitting instructor, Murphy helped Team Canada qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Ithaca's softball coach since 1989, Deb Pallozzi has built the Bomber program into a perennial playoff contender. She coached the team to its first national championship in 2002, compiling a 37-13 record and setting a school record for wins. She is the school�s winningest softball coach, raising her Ithaca total to 587 wins in 21 seasons.

Pallozzi, who was named Ithaca's Senior Woman Administrator in the fall of 2005, has been named Empire 8 Coach of the Year five of the past nine seasons; her staff was named NFCA Northeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year after the Bombers finished 31-14, winning the regional title and placing fourth at the College World Series in 2005.

In 2002 Ithaca captured the national championship after winning a rain-shortened regional. The Bombers posted a 4-1 record at nationals to win the title. Pallozzi was named Empire 8 Coachof the Year. In 2003 the Bombers finished with a 30-11 record, placing third in the NCAA northeast regional playoffs. Pallozzi was named Empire 8 Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season. The 2004 team went 27-15 and finished as regional runner-up. She led Ithaca back to the championship tournament in 2006 where the Bombers tied for fifth. That team posted a 40-7 record, setting a school record for wins.

In 2008, the Bombers returned to the College World Series after dominating the NCAA Regional Tournament, as the Bombers defeated four opponents by a combined score of 31-2 to take the regional title. Ithaca defeated Lynchburg and Cortland at the championship series to place fourth in the nation.

Leading the Huskers to at least 35 wins in 11 of the past 12 years, Rhonda Revelle has made Nebraska a national powerhouse while amassing a 650-342 record.

In the 2005 season, the Huskers defeated seven ranked teams, including three victories over top-10 teams, earning Revelle her 500th career win before hosting their third consecutive NCAA regional tournament.

In 2006, Revelle expanded her role for the Huskers athletic department, assuming duties as both associate athletic director and senior woman administrator. That year, Nebraska finished 44-12, posting the third-best winning percentage in school history. She served as senior woman administrator for two seasons, before returning to a coaching-only role in 2008.

In 2002, Nebraska went 50-14 and claimed the school’s seventh berth into the Women’s College World Series. The Huskers were ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation, winning a school-record 23 consecutive games during the season.

Revelle led NU to a 153-50 record from 2000 to 2002, the most successful three-year period in program history.

Revelle was a member of Nebraska ’s first Women’s College World Series team and first Big Eight Championship squad in 1982. She ranks among the Huskers' career top 10 in saves and ERA.

After her college career, Revelle became a five-time ASA All-American, winning MVP honors at the 1987 Class “A” women’s national tournament.

Don Slaught spent 16 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball. Slaught broke into the majors in 1982 with the Royals; and spent the remainder of his career playing with the Rangers, Yankees, Pirates, Angels, White Sox, and Padres. The catcher played in three straight National League Championship Series with the Pirates and on American League Championship Series with the Royals in 1984.

In 2005 Slaught became the hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers. He held the position for two seasons and in 2006, the Tigers were the American League Champions.

Slaught played his college ball at UCLA where he had a .428 career batting average, a school record that stood for 25 years. He was named team captain, and went on to earn All Pac-10, All Coast, and Academic All American honors.

Slaught is now the President of RightView Pro, which offers video training for both baseball and softball players. RVP is the only training system licensed by National Pro Fastpitch, Major League Baseball, MLB Players Association and the NFCA.

The head coach of the 2009 NCAA Champion Washington Huskies, Heather Tarr just completed her fifth season at the helm of the Husky softball program. In those five seasons, Tarr has led Washington to five straight NCAA tournament, four super regionals and four top-15 national rankings. She has amassed a 193-103-1 record with the Huskies.

Before taking over the Washington program, Tarr had a six-year stint at Pacific, starting as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach in April of 2004.

During her six seasons at Pacific, the Tigers posted a 232-124 (.652) overall record and 90-44 (.672) mark in the Big West Conference.

In 2004, Tarr guided the Tigers to a top-20 national batting average. In 2001, she and Pacific head coach Brian Kolze were named the 2001 NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the Tigers to within one win of the Women's College World Series and a No. 18 final national ranking. That team also finished the season with a .973 fielding percentage, ranking second-best in the country.

Tarr joined Pacific prior to the 1999 season after an outstanding career as a Husky. As a four-year letter winner, Tarr helped lead UW to a second-place finish at the Women's College World Series in 1996 and a third-place finish in 1997.

John Tschida is the only NCAA coach to lead two different institutions to NCAA softball titles. It took just two years to get the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) to the national championships and just four years to lead the Tommies to two consecutive Division III national titles in 2004 and 2005. He guided his alma mater, Saint Mary's, to the 2000 NCAA Division III championship in just his fifth year of coaching.

Tschida and his staff earned NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year honors twice in the last six years. In his 15-year college career, Tschida has become the winningest Division III softball coach, active or retired, with a 573-98 record (.854 winning percentage). Every team ever coached by Tschida has been nationally ranked.

He guided the 2006 Tommies to a second place finish in the NCAA Division III National Championships and finished 48-4. The 48 wins tied a Division III record, and the team's 72 home runs in 52 games shattered the old D-III season record.

As a player, Tschida has been a two-time NAFA All-World player, five-time ASA Class "A" All-American, 2006 ASA Men's Open All-American and an ISC All-World Team player. He has competed in 17 ISC World Tournaments, 18 ASA National Tournaments and eight NAFA World Series. In 1998, Tschida was the leadoff hitter for the 1998 ASA Class "A" National Champion DMS Knights and won the NAFA World Series Open title in 2005. The teams he has played on are typically ranked in the top ten in the ISC World Rankings.

Kirk Walker has turned the Oregon State program into a perennial national contender during his 16 seasons with the Beavers, making nine consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, and helping OSU earn its first-ever trip to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (2006).

With 515 wins to his credit and two Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards, Walker is OSU’s all-time winningest softball coach. One of the best teams in Oregon State history, Walker’s 2006 squad reeled off a school record 28-game winning streak (the longest for any team in the nation on the season), catapulted to a program-best #5 national ranking, and won both the NCAA regional and super regional to earn a WCWS berth.

Walker led Oregon State to the program’s first Pac-10 title in 2005, and the Beaver staff was tabbed the Speedline/ NFCA Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year for the second time. His 2003 squad finished 36-31, finishing second in the NCAA regional tournament. In 2000, Walker’s squad finished just one win shy of a berth into the Women’s College World Series.

Walker served as an assistant coach for the USA Elite Team in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and as an assistant coach for the USA Red Team in 2001.

As a club team coach, Walker has won five ASA National Championships - four with the women's major California Commotion and one with the 15U So Cal Shilos.

One of the winningest coaches in NCAA softball, Scott Whitlock has accumulated two national titles, 13 regional crowns and has made Kennesaw State softball a respected and admired program.

After successful runs at the NAIA and NCAA Division II levels, Whitlock has guided Kennesaw State into NCAA Division I, compiling a 139-84 Division I record, winning the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship in 2007 and is already a two-time A-Sun Coach of the Year.

Whitlock guided the Owls to back-to-back NCAA Division II titles in 1995 and 1996 and has a career winning percentage of .808 with an 853-203 record over 19 seasons. Whitlock is a 2005 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee.

In 24 seasons as a head coach at Fresno State, Margie Wright has directed the Bulldogs to 24 straight NCAA tournament appearances, including 10 Women’s College World Series showings, culminating with a national title in 1998.

Including her six-year stint at Illinois State, Wright has posted an astonishing 30-year career record of 1,345-479-3 (.737) in her illustrious career. As the NCAA’s all-time winningest softball coach, she has also directed the Bulldog softball program to 17 conference titles and 10 regional championship crowns while coaching 53 All-Americans, 16 Academic All-Americans, 15 Olympians and two NCAA Top VIII Award winners. In addition, Wright has made Fresno State just one of four NCAA Division I schools to make 10 or more trips to the WCWS.

On the international stage, Wright has helped the U.S Women’s National Team capture gold. She was an assistant coach on the 1996 Olympic team that won gold in the sports inaugural Olympic debut prior to serving as head coach for the 1998 squad that captured an unprecedented fourth gold medal at the ISF World Championship.

Inducted into seven halls of fame, Wright was inducted to the NFCA Hall of Fame in 2000 and recently was inducted into the Women's Sports Foundation International Hall of Fame last October.

Rayla Allison is an attorney and college professor with a national practice representing female athletes, coaches of women’s sports and management in the areas of Title IX, employment discrimination, transactional issues, intellectual property and general business affairs.

In addition to her law practice, Allison is a sport management professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis/Saint Paul.

She coached at Texas Woman’s University, Wesleyan University, University of Texas, Arlington, and the University of Hawaii. In 1991, Allison became the first full-time Executive Director of the NFCA, enabling the association to double its membership and triple revenues under her leadership.

Allison was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 1999 and is the recipient of the President’s Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation.

In her 11 seasons directing UT's intercollegiate softball program, Clark has registered a 440-202-1 record. Clark has led Texas to the Women's College World Series three times in the last four years (2003, 2005 and 2006) and four times overall (including 1998). In 2003 and 2005, the Longhorns placed third at the WCWS.

Additionally, Texas Softball has earned three Big 12 Conference regular season, and five Big 12 tournament titles under her direction and eight NCAA tournament appearances, including regionals in 2007.

Clark's student-athletes have claimed 10 All-America honors and five Academic All-America accolades, while Longhorn pitching sensation Cat Osterman earned three USA Softball National Player of the Year honors and two Honda Awards as softball's top player in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

In 2003, Clark, along with her assistants, was honored as the 2003 Speedline/ NFCA Division I Coaching Staff of the Year. Her Big 12 peers also recognized Clark in 2002 and 2006 when they named her the Big 12 Coach of the Year.

A former All-America pitcher at Cal State Fullerton and the 1987 Broderick Award winner, Clark served as an assistant at Florida State under JoAnne Graf prior to taking over the Texas program.

Sheila Douty was a member of the 1996 and 2000 USA Olympic Teams, both of which won gold medals. She played on numerous USA national teams, winning gold at the Pan American Games in 1983, 1987, 1991 and 1995. Douty also helped lead the U.S. to three consecutive gold medals at the ISF World Championships.

In the 1998 South Pacific Classic, Douty was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Hitter after batting a team-high .476 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and a team-leading nine RBI.

At the collegiate level, Douty won national championships at UCLA in 1982 and 1984, and was named to the Pac-10�s All-Decade team. She is a member of the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame and was inducted into the ASA Hall of Fame in 2006.

When she threw a no-hitter to clinch her second New Jersey State Title for the Parsipanny Hills High Vikings, JoAnn Ferrieri knew bigger and better things were on the horizon. As a walk-on at Cal State Fullerton, JoAnn became an all-American third baseman and brought home the Women's College World Series national championship as a senior.

In 1987, she earned a Gold Medal as a member of the Pan-American softball team. She continued her legacy on the field by becoming the European MVP while playing and coaching in Italy. As a head coach, she led her Palm Beach Community College team to a national championship in 1996, and then moved on to the Division I head coaching job at New Mexico State University.

Today after 25 years in the sport, JoAnn offers her extensive knowledge of the game and her deep love for teaching to the South Florida softball and baseball communities through Rhino Softball. As owner of Rhino Softball, JoAnn seeks to provide excellence in camps, team sessions, coach and player clinics, private and group instruction, recruiting services and college tournaments. Rhino Softball also strives to develop a well-rounded athlete by encouraging love of the sport, gamesmanship, participation by parents and coaches in a players training and a comprehensive understanding of the physical body as a tool.

Former Cal State Fullerton head coach Judi Garman completed her 28th year of coaching in 1999 with a career record of 1,124-416-4, fifth all time.

Her inaugural Titan squad finished third in the West Coast Athletic Conference and ninth at the AIAW national championship. Garman’s teams won eight conference championships and seven regional titles.

In 1981, 1983 and 1985, Fullerton finished second at the Women’s College World Series, eventually capturing a national crown in 1986.

Garman coached the Italian National Team in 2001, leading it to the European Championship and to a fifth place finish in the 2002 World Championship.

Garman served as president of the then-National Softball Coaches Association in 1990 and 1991. She was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 1993.

Recently completing her 16th season as a head coach, Patty Gasso has a career collegiate coaching record of 746-260-2 (.740).

The Sooners have reached the Women�s College World Series in five of the last nine years and, in the process, have extended their NCAA postseason streak to 13, 12 of which have come under Gasso. The WCWS run began in 2000 when her team won the NCAA National Championship in OU’s first appearance.

Numerous Sooner players have prospered under Coach Gasso’s tutelage and garnered national, regional and conference recognition. In the Big 12 era, four Sooners have been named Big 12 Player of the Year, two have been selected as Big 12 Freshman of the Year and one as Big 12 Newcomer.

Gasso and her staff have consistently been recognized for their efforts on and off the field. The staff was awarded three consecutive Speedline/NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year awards from 1999-2001, while also receiving the national honor in 2000.

Cal State Fullerton Head Coach Michelle Gromacki returns to the bench for her ninth season at the helm of the Titans' softball program, continuing to build upon a tradition that has made Fullerton one of the most prestigious programs in the nation.

Gromacki has been honored by her peers throughout her coaching career, serving as head coach on four Speedline/NFCA West Region Coaching Staff's of the Year in the last eight seasons (2000, 2002-03, 2006). She has even taken her talents to the next level, serving as an assistant coach for the USA Blue Team in 2001 and the U.S. "Elite" National Team in 2002-04. The Elite Team competed in international tournaments and served as the "sparring partner" for the U.S. National Team in preparation for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.

Aside from playing, Gromacki has also been involved in numerous activities to promote the sport of softball. She was responsible for Junior Olympic tryouts and Pan Am Team practices held at Cal State Fullerton, has conducted numerous coaching clinics and speaking engagements around the world. She also conducted a clinic in Italy, spending three days working with the Italian Junior Olympic National Team.

Gromacki is also a contributor to numerous athletic publications, including authoring a monthly column for Southern California Softball Magazine and writing articles for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association newsletter.

Hartwig is the national clinician and owner/founder of Just Softball. She is also the Director of Coaches Certification and Training for the So Cal ASA. Hartwig is also the Tournament Director for the most prestigious college tournaments in the nation; the Palm Springs Classic, the Judi Gartman Classic and the Worth Tournament. Hartwig was the assistant coach of Team Texas, a women's Major Travel Ball team that placed 2nd in the 2000 Nationals and 5th in the 2002 Canada Cup. Hartwig was recently a volunteer assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton.

Hartwig also served for four years as the assistant coach at San Diego State where she was the hitting, catching and outfield coach as well as assisting with recruiting. Prior to the Aztecs, Hartwig coached travel teams and was the varsity coach at San Marcos High School in North San Diego. Hartwig's alma mater where she both played softball and basketball. Hartwig began her colleigate career at Saddleback Junior College in Mission Viejo, CA, and received all-conference, all-region and all-state honors, helping lead the Gauchos to the state championship.

Hartwig directs Nike camps and currently works numerous clinics throughout the United States teaching players and coaches alike. She is also a member of the RightView Pro team as well as a certified instructor for RVP.

As one of the nation's premiere Peak Performance Coaches, Jeff Janssen, M.S. helps coaches and athletes develop the team chemistry, mental toughness, and leadership skills necessary to win championships. His work has contributed to numerous NCAA national championships and final-four finishes across a variety of sports.

A popular speaker, Janssen has presented programs at Arizona, Alabama, Texas, Stanford, LSU, Purdue, North Carolina State, Florida, Florida State, and dozens of other Division I, II, III, NAIA, and NJCAA programs across the nation. He is the author of three groundbreaking books: "Championship Team Building," "The Seven Secrets of Successful Coaches," and "The Team Captain's Leadership Manual."

Brian Kolze, the winningest coach in Pacific softball program history, is in his 15th season at the helm of the program. Kolze has guided the Tigers to a program-record 11 consecutive winning seasons and six NCAA regional appearances in the last nine years.

A three-time Big West Conference Coach of the Year (1998, 2001, 2002), he enters the 2007 campaign with a 440-344-1 (.568) overall record and a 190-167-1 (.532) mark in Big West Conference action.

During the 2006 season, Kolze reached another milestone in his Pacific career, picking up win No. 400 as the Tigers defeated Nevada, 8-7, on April 1. Kolze also brought international coaching experience to the Tigers in 2005 after spending the summer as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Elite team that won a silver medal at the Canada Cup and brought home the gold at the Intercontinental Cup in Spain in July of 2005.

Brandon Marcello serves as the speed and conditioning coach for the Baylor Women’s Softball Team. Under his guidance, the Bears have broken the Big XII stolen base record, with 142 in 2004 and 155 in 2005.

Marcello formerly served as the Associate Director of Athletes’ Performance, a world class training facility for professional and elite athletes in Tempe, Ariz. While at Athletes’ performance, he trained a number of athletes from all sports enhancing their strength, speed, flexibility and agility.

A recognized author, Marcello’s work appears in various journals, strength and conditioning text books and numerous periodicals.

He is also currently a consultant for adidas International and Nike, and serves as the strength and conditioning coach for the USA National Team.

A three-time U.S. Olympian, Stacey Nuveman recently completed her first season as an assistant coach at San Diego State University. This follows two seasons as an assistant coach at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif., in 2007 and 2008.

As a starting catcher for Team USA for three Olympiads, Nuveman won gold medals with the American squad at the 2000 Sydney Games and 2004 Athens Games as well as a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Nuveman has worked at a variety of camps and clinics and is highlighted in the instructional video "The Fundamentals of Catching." She has also done color commentary and studio analyst work for ESPN, CSTV (now CBS College Sports TV) and FOX Sports.

As a four-time All-American catcher at UCLA, Nuveman finished her collegiate career with four NCAA career records - 90 home runs, a .945 slugging percentage, 240 walks and 81 intentional walks. She continues to hold the records for career home runs, slugging percentage and intentional walks while ranking second in walks, fourth in batting average (.466), fourth with 299 RBI and 21st in hits (322). The inaugural ASA/USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year (2002) and three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year (1999, 2001, 2002), she led the Bruins to an NCAA championship in 1999, the year in which she set school records with 31 home runs and 91 RBI.

Laurie Soltman has worked most of the past 15 years as an educator, counselor and administrator in professional baseball throughout the country. During her 10-year stint with the Florida Marlins, she created and implemented benchmark programming in English as a second language education, acculturation and life skills for the team’s minor and major league programs.

Currently, Soltman serves as the Coordinator of International Player Programs for the Detroit Tigers Baseball Club, where she oversees the transitional programming for the international players as they adjust to life in professional baseball and in the United States.

In addition, Soltman also works with staff and U.S.-born players to help them develop communication strategies with their international teammates and players.

Elaine Sortino has made winning a habit at the University of Massachusetts. In her 28 years at the helm of the Minutewoman softball program, Sortino has established herself as one of the nation's most successful collegiate softball coaches and has helped to turn Massachusetts softball into a national contender.

Sortino has posted a career record of 975-418-5, making her ninth among all active Division I coaches.

Sortino has led UMass to 19 Atlantic-10 Conference titles, 17 NCAA regional appearances and three trips to the NCAA College World Series. Her seven A-10 Coach of the Year awards are the most of any coach - in any sport - in the conference. Sortino and her staff have also been recognized as the Division I Speedline/NFCA Northeast Coaching Staff of the Year on four different occasions, including 2003, when she was the first coach in the region to post over 700 career wins.

In 2006, UMass made its 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, tying the longest active streak in the country. Sortino was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 2004.

Mona Stevens served as the head coach for the University of Utah for nine seasons, compiling a 281-239-1 record while guiding the Utes to the inaugural Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament championships and four NCAA tournament berths.

The former associate head coach at Massachusetts, Stevens also garnered a wealth of international softball coaching experience. She served as a national team coach for the USA women�s and youth teams from 1996-2000.

During that time she was awarded 1997 USOC National Coach of the Year accolades. Stevens coached the 1998 U.S. 18U World team, and she also served 12 years as a lead instructor for the ASA VIP Program, which focuses on training youth softball coaches.

Linda Wells, who retired from collegiate coaching after the 2005 season, led Arizona State to 12 NCAA regional appearances in 15 seasons as head coach. She reached the 900-win mark during her final season.

In 2002, Wells led ASU to 46 wins and the school's second appearance in the Women's College World Series, finishing a program-best third in the national tournament.

Wells was one of 12 coaches selected for the USA Softball Women's National Team Coaches pool for the 2004 Olympic Games, but she resigned from the pool to be named the Greek Olympic coach in 2002.

She continued to coach the Greek National Team in 2005, winning a Silver medal in the European Championships and qualifying the team for the World Championships in 2006. She recently was named pitching coach for the Dutch Olympic Team that will play in the 2008 Olympics.

Wells coached the U.S.A. in 1985 and 1987 to Gold medals in Austrailia and the Pan American Games.

She is an ASA All-American catcher and is a member of five hall of fames, including the NFCA, into which Wells was inducted into in 1991.

In 2004, Wells was honored by Arizona State, receiving the university's Sparky Award for Outstanding Service.