DALLAS – With over 1,800 attendees the NFCA capped a record-breaking year with its largest Convention in Association history. From a new membership high in October, to a sold-out Exhibit Show with 25 first-time companies and over 600 first-time Convention attendees, the 2024 edition concluded with the Awards Brunch, a second session of Drills, Drills, Drills, and Super-Saturday edition of education.
After the NFCA’s respective All-America committees conducted business, Drills, Drills, Drills opened with the Texas Glory’s Kevin Shelton on short game, Texas Tech’s Hunter Veach covering defense and Longwood’s Dr. Megan Brown closing it out with pitching.
Following drills, the membership recognized their peers at the Awards Brunch. Coaches earned Victory Club milestones, which included a pair of lifetime honorees in NFCA Hall of Famers Heinz Mueller, Phoenix College (1,600), and Oklahoma City’s Phil McSpadden (1,900). Mueller is the all-time leader in NJCAA and McSpadden is the winningest coach in collegiate softball.
Additionally, each 2024 National Coaching Staff of the Year winner addressed their peers, along with video acceptances from Beth Mowins (Melinda Fischer Distinguished Service Award) and College of St. Mary’s Carolyn Todd Bray (Donna Newberry “Perseverance” Award). Bray was in attendance to accept her award nine month after being struck by a line drive during a game in March.
The brunch closed out with LSU’s Beth Torina, the 2024 Humanitarian Award recipient, who is being recognized for her tireless work to raise awareness and funds for ovarian cancer research.
The Convention concluded with full afternoon of education opening with Wilmington’s Mike Shehorn (Infield Fundamentals), Janae Shirley (Hitting: The 2-Strike Approach), the trio of Kentucky’s Rachel Lawson, Dayton’s Cara Clark and UCF’s Cindy Ball-Malone on DP/Flex Strategies followed by Kingwood High School’s Christa Williams (Building Accountability in Pitchers) and Tennessee’s Aubrey Leach and Karen Weekly (Short-Game Defense).
Wrapping things up were North Texas’ Jason Gwyn and Itawamba Community College’s Carson Owens talking about defense around the base and competitive-based bullpens, respectively, in addition to an umpire panel that focused on how to ask the right questions to build a better relationship between coaches and umpires.
The NFCA Convention returns Dec. 10-13, 2025 in Las Vegas.
The NFCA is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded National Convention, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to awards to the National Fastpitch Coaches College (NFCC) to other in-person events such as Coaches Clinics and Leadoff Classics.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining our lineup of over 7,000 coaches today!
