WEBVTT 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:07.139 send for coach Littlewood, I'm thinking, you know, how can I honor this? 00:00:10.109 --> 00:00:14.117 So we did a coach, there was a coach Littlewood award and we started a 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:19.217 tournament and named it the little wood and I'm so pleased to see that 00:00:19.250 --> 00:00:23.556 that's still around as the little would, they're great coaches on the 00:00:23.589 --> 00:00:28.317 staff. I have the opportunity to meet um, and Pittman and then of course 00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:33.896 to know Sheila Mcinerney and uh, so many of my colleagues and to be 00:00:33.929 --> 00:00:40.607 exposed then to the other softball coaches in the pack and become 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:47.126 um definitely the camaraderie of being in such a premier conference and to 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:53.987 be sort of again, um, in the lead in terms of what's happening in the 00:00:54.020 --> 00:01:00.957 sport to be um feeling valuable and contributing to the international 00:01:00.990 --> 00:01:05.277 scene and to the national scene through the coaches association, they 00:01:05.310 --> 00:01:10.887 start a coaching education program which becomes a master's program and 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:17.186 you know, have the opportunity to teach in that and to begin to do lots of 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:22.816 clinic work for the International Softball Federation. But gosh, I met 00:01:22.849 --> 00:01:28.807 Arizona State and it's beautiful and we're in the new Carson building and 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:35.057 um, there's work to do in softball in terms of, especially the facility, 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:42.206 but the players have throughout my whole time where just premier um, 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:49.557 athletes and, and people and I think as you know, you look at all the, you 00:01:49.590 --> 00:01:54.236 know, as I did in thinking about this and um, you know, talking about the 00:01:54.269 --> 00:01:59.807 time, it's just, it's hard to believe it was that long really. It just is 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:07.840 a flash um of teams and tournaments and opportunity to work with so many 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:16.017 of these young women who now I I look at and I'm so honored to be friends 00:02:16.050 --> 00:02:21.916 with or to have watched them grow and develop into many of them coaches 00:02:21.949 --> 00:02:28.747 themselves and um many of them opportunities to just follow throughout 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:33.386 their life and whatever they're doing. When you arrived at Arizona State I 00:02:33.419 --> 00:02:38.297 believe Russell nelson was president, is that correct? And we have not yet 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:45.207 hired ladic as president coming in and uh Charles Harris was director of 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:51.587 athletics and Herman Frazier over was managing the what we called olympic 00:02:51.620 --> 00:02:55.707 sports which was really a unique concept also at A. S. U. It was not only 00:02:55.740 --> 00:03:01.337 upscale with a new building coaches had budgets and recruiting money. Um A 00:03:01.370 --> 00:03:06.777 lot of support Herman Frazier uh an Olympian himself but in A. S. U. Alum 00:03:06.810 --> 00:03:12.786 who were very proud of um he came up with the idea of not calling it other 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:19.726 sports or you know be sports um or women's sports or men's other sports. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:23.886 He called it olympic sports and we may have been one of the only ones that 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:29.577 really did that but it was it was a mindset of excellence everywhere. Yes 00:03:29.610 --> 00:03:33.506 we had football, we had basketball and we had olympic sports and they had 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:39.606 great deal of attention um along with a group um wings of gold which 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:44.017 supported women's athletics a booster group um Similar to the Sun Devil 00:03:44.050 --> 00:03:48.286 clubs on Angel Foundation but really to support women's athletics and all 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:53.927 that transpired during, I believe your, your time as a coach. Um, one of 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:57.506 my favorite stories that I'd like you to tell us about. It was building 00:03:57.539 --> 00:04:02.136 Farrington Stadium. Um, we were very fortunate, um, the Alberta Farrington 00:04:02.169 --> 00:04:07.327 Foundation to provide the funds for the new stadium and uh, I remember 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:11.906 coming out to see you and having to put on a hard hat to walk around the, 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:16.036 the site as it was being constructed, but there was something about the 00:04:16.069 --> 00:04:20.387 color of the seats that was kind of unique that the construction folks 00:04:20.420 --> 00:04:24.197 hadn't thought of. Could you share that with us? Well, it was just, it's 00:04:24.230 --> 00:04:27.007 just one of the 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:33.687 premier memories of being here is that opportunity to build a stadium. And 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:39.017 um, I, I guess several little things, one of them is that the architects 00:04:39.050 --> 00:04:44.697 um were sort of new to the athletic facility front. And so I, I didn't 00:04:44.730 --> 00:04:48.947 show them any softball facilities. I only showed them baseball and said we 00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:55.517 want this but smaller. Um, so we were able to really do what I thought was 00:04:55.550 --> 00:05:02.337 a true design of a great facility for softball, uh, from the ground up. 00:05:02.370 --> 00:05:07.967 And it has so many little things, it has shoe cubbies so that your spikes 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.457 don't have to go dirty into the locker room and it has bad slides in the 00:05:12.490 --> 00:05:18.596 back of the dugouts. That's a very professional opportunity to store your 00:05:18.629 --> 00:05:23.976 bat and helmet and I wanted colored seats. I thought why not? You know, we 00:05:24.009 --> 00:05:27.627 should have maroon and gold seats. So that was at one of the hundreds of 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:31.967 construction meetings that I attended where I'm in there, you know, saying 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.187 let's, let's do it. And, and now I'm pleased to say that, you know, you go 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:40.877 over there and it's just a beautiful, beautiful field. I remember when I 00:05:40.910 --> 00:05:45.976 took my interview here riding over there with tom Collins, then one of the 00:05:46.009 --> 00:05:54.009 , um, senior administrators and the parking lot and driveway, we're not 00:05:54.050 --> 00:05:59.397 even asphalted. So we were like going through the, and I'm like, well tom 00:05:59.430 --> 00:06:03.437 , I, I think one thing should happen, you might want to, you know, put a 00:06:03.470 --> 00:06:08.916 last fall on the concrete and then of course we went years with, um, just 00:06:08.949 --> 00:06:14.926 the field and the stand up block dugouts and, and it's sort of hard every 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:20.226 , yeah, everybody wants something and, and so you're kind of standing in 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:25.457 line and then, um, yeah, Farrington, um, what a, what a great story. Their 00:06:25.490 --> 00:06:33.397 family, you know, steps up to make this opportunity happened and they're 00:06:33.430 --> 00:06:38.486 kind of, uh, you know, they had Minneapolis ties. So for me that was also 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:44.036 very, uh, special. And I think there originally out of, out of 00:06:44.069 --> 00:06:48.176 pennsylvania, but they had come here and they had settled here and they 00:06:48.209 --> 00:06:53.926 were, they, they were, um, kind of a strapping couple and they often 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:59.777 dressed in cowboy clothes and they were, you know, just very, um, unique 00:06:59.810 --> 00:07:07.106 individuals. And I think they would be very, um excited about 00:07:07.139 --> 00:07:14.546 what we did, um, with their name to represent softball. So definitely, and 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:21.337 then, you know, the everyday, how it changed to become Absoluteal one of 00:07:21.370 --> 00:07:28.116 the best, if not the best stadiums in the country. Well, knowing a lot 00:07:28.149 --> 00:07:33.587 about facilities is really important. And many people, um, don't really 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:38.056 recognize the depth that you have to know to build the proper facility. Um 00:07:38.089 --> 00:07:45.137 , you know, when you walk into a gym, you can see if the baskets are down 00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:49.666 completely. You know, some won't, they'll be like at an angle when you 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:54.976 walk into a facility. You can see where the seating is great for the fans 00:07:55.009 --> 00:07:59.976 or, or, or the visitors, you know, accommodations. But for Farrington 00:08:00.009 --> 00:08:03.647 Stadium, I remember that the architect wanted to make the seats right 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:09.637 behind home plate yellow. And uh, you may not remember that. Some people 00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:14.387 may not know that the softball is yellow. Um, so that created somewhat of 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:21.050 a dilemma for your picture. And uh, that was one battle I believe you won. 00:08:21.459 --> 00:08:23.459 Here's another one I, one, here's another one I won because of all the 00:08:25.269 --> 00:08:32.476 years, you know, coaching and going to events and playing and standing in 00:08:32.509 --> 00:08:40.207 line to go to the bathroom. There are there, I said, if nothing else 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:43.667 happens, you're not going to have to stand in line to use the bathroom, 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:48.337 the women's bathroom. So I'm also very proud to say and it sounds like it 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:53.957 doesn't mean much, but when you are Recruiting and standing in line with, 00:08:53.990 --> 00:08:58.967 you know, 400 other people trying to use, you know, two stalls in the 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:03.386 women's bathroom. It's just another hurdle, you know, another hurdle. And 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:08.557 , and we've seen that change in the bigger arenas to where there's become 00:09:08.590 --> 00:09:13.996 much more of a sense of accommodation. And I think just general respect 00:09:14.029 --> 00:09:20.366 for the needs of women and women in sport and um, you know, I think it 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:23.986 reflects that and then you deal with your so proud of it and then you deal 00:09:24.019 --> 00:09:27.876 with, here come the alums who say, well why didn't we get that? And so 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:32.217 always along the way, that's been a common story, the lums from the year 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:35.856 before coming and go, well why didn't we get that? And then how did they 00:09:35.889 --> 00:09:39.957 get all this? So it was a very big jump, but I'm also proud to say we put 00:09:39.990 --> 00:09:46.327 every alums name on the wall over at Farrington. So I hope they're all as 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:51.717 proud as I am of the opportunity now for the women to play in a true 00:09:51.750 --> 00:09:58.207 stadium environment and, and, and they, they brought that forward. You 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:03.746 know, they were the women who, yeah, who had to go to the down the block 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:09.577 to go to the restroom and then come back to the field that allowed us to 00:10:09.610 --> 00:10:16.327 continue to pursue to the degree of perfection that we have today. But 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:21.236 when mary Littlewood retired, she mentioned going on the road and taking 00:10:21.269 --> 00:10:28.126 her crockpot for the team dinner and uh really a shoestring um and the 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.396 budgets um that you had allowed you to travel, stay in hotels, not always 00:10:33.429 --> 00:10:37.636 use the bus. Um can you talk a little bit about what it was like to go on 00:10:37.669 --> 00:10:42.006 the road with your softball team? Yeah. And I would definitely say that um 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.736 you know, Herman was a dream to work for. I really appreciated the chance 00:10:45.769 --> 00:10:51.067 to come and be with Charles, Harris and Herman Frazier and the whole staff 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:58.307 of people and I think that many of those hurdles, we were, we were over 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:03.677 the, the hurdles of the seventies were just, you know, the basics and and 00:11:03.710 --> 00:11:08.636 scrapping and clawing for every dollar and by the time I had arrived at 00:11:08.669 --> 00:11:13.276 Arizona State it was clear that um I didn't really have to fundraise my 00:11:13.309 --> 00:11:18.297 budget that the budget was there provided Players were able to stay two in 00:11:18.330 --> 00:11:23.827 a room. We were able to fly to our competitions, we were able to be rested 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:30.256 , we were able to be, you know, serviced and prepared for action. So I 00:11:30.289 --> 00:11:35.726 think um Arizona State stated certainly by the time I arrived made those 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:40.957 big strides forward and then we were also able to, you know, fundraise and 00:11:40.990 --> 00:11:46.026 I was able to take a team to Australia and a team to Greece for 00:11:46.059 --> 00:11:50.116 international trips, which you know, I think in the memory bank of those 00:11:50.149 --> 00:11:55.126 players is going to be um you know, as international travel has been for 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:58.567 me, it's just gonna be a life highlight for him. You know, many of them 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:04.207 will always comment to me and remember when we did that, I just think 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:10.207 about how great it was, you know, so um, yeah, the programs have now um 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:15.907 sort of all grown up and as I kind of now in retirement, look back and 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:21.746 reflect, it was just such a great time to be a part of it all is really a 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:27.266 good kind of joyous and family and celebratory environment for the most 00:12:27.299 --> 00:12:31.437 part, but there were probably some challenges some days when it was tough 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:36.047 and uh, I wanted to ask you if there was a particular turning point in 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:40.197 your career where you had to kind of dig a little deeper and get going 00:12:40.230 --> 00:12:47.087 again. Um Well, I think um My dig a little deeper probably were my last 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:53.266 years and it was kind of a positive dig deeper because by now I am also 00:12:53.299 --> 00:12:59.226 coaching the Greek team. Um so I received this opportunity in 2002 to 00:12:59.259 --> 00:13:07.259 begin to work with the Greeks In. Yes, yes, the Olympic games in Softball 00:13:08.490 --> 00:13:13.697 began in 96 in Atlanta. So they played softball in Atlanta had been played 00:13:13.730 --> 00:13:19.177 as exhibition in 1984 in Los Angeles but wasn't retained into the games, 00:13:19.210 --> 00:13:23.846 but it was played as an olympic sport And it was just another shot in the 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:27.616 arm for the sport, you know, and by now, of course, the world series is 00:13:27.649 --> 00:13:33.136 very popular. Um, issue is being well represented in regionals and um, 00:13:33.169 --> 00:13:39.057 advancing into the um, playoffs and we're pretty consistently ranked in 00:13:39.090 --> 00:13:42.006 the top 10 in the country. 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:48.596 Um, and I get this additional opportunity now to help prepare a team for, 00:13:48.629 --> 00:13:50.606 um, 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:57.667 Beginning in 2002 for the 2004 games. So I am now From 2000 to 2005, 00:13:57.700 --> 00:14:04.486 concurrently coaching an olympic team and developing a budget and um, also 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:07.606 coaching, uh, 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:12.366 my ongoing duty said issue. So you kind of burn out because you're trying 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:17.026 to do too much. So I think that's what I would see. And so I'm on this 00:14:17.059 --> 00:14:25.059 kind of just kind of rocketing into um, 2005, I knew, um, well I'd always 00:14:25.950 --> 00:14:32.776 imagined that I would retire at age 50. It was my goal. And then, you know 00:14:32.809 --> 00:14:40.809 , I enjoyed all the teams so much. I, I waited and, and, but when I was, 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:45.756 uh, I think at 52, I knew I was signing my last three year contract at 00:14:45.789 --> 00:14:51.087 Arizona State and so then retired in 2005. So you had a multiple year 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:55.276 contract. That's an idea. Yes. And that was something that had changed 00:14:55.309 --> 00:15:00.106 from the time I came in, I was a single year and then they began to offer 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:04.087 multiyear contracts, which was very nice for me because it gave me the 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:10.990 opportunity to plan out and you know, this was how it was going to run.