Inspirational Softball Stories

The first official game of softball took place on Thanksgiving Day of 1887 following the annual football match-up between collegiate rivals, Harvard and Yale.  George Hancock created “indoor baseball” as a winter alternative to America’s favorite pastime and to keep the men in shape.  With a rally cry of “Let’s play ball!” and half a broom handle, the sport was born.

Well it has been more that 100 years since softball’s first fly ball and the game is definitely not just for men anymore.  There are a myriad of women from Toronto to Tucson who routinely shatter records, and a talented few who inspire the next generation to reach even greater goals. Victoria Girouard, head coach of the LSU Lady Tigers, is one of them.

Heralded as a “pioneer,” Girouard is considered one of the best softball coaches in history.  She tops the NCAA’s ten best coaches list with number and percentages of wins.  Only three coaches have ever led two separate college teams to the Women’s College World Series: Girouard is one of them.  The Fastpitch Coaches Association honored her as National Coach of the Year in both 1990 and 1993, and inducted her into their Hall of Fame in 2005.

It is not just her accomplishments that make her a credit to the field.  Yes, fifteen of her players garnered Academic All-American honors.  However, her mentorship does not stop there.  She continues to open doors for her former players and fellow coaches to make softball more than just a hobby.  Eleven of them hold Division I jobs including All-Americans, LaDonia Hughes and Trena Peel who play professionally for the National Pro Fastpitch League’s  USSSAA Pride and Philadelphia Force.

Girouard still manages to keep a humble perspective on the sport: “the softball gods giveth and taketh away, but that evens out over the season.” This along with all of these inspirational softball stories help to form part of the reason why people love to be around the game of softball.

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