Joan_Joyce

Joan Joyce

Joan Joyce

American softball coach (1940–2022)

Joan Joyce (August 18, 1940 – March 26, 2022)[1] was the softball coach at Florida Atlantic, for 28 years until her death in 2022. She previously was a softball player for the Raybestos Brakettes and the Orange Lionettes.[2] She also had set records on the LPGA Tour as a golfer and on the USA women's national basketball team, and was a player and coach for the Connecticut Clippers volleyball team.[3]

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Softball

Playing career

Joyce played for the Brakettes from 1954 to 1963, the Lionettes from 1964 to 1966, and again the Brakettes from 1967 to 1975, In her career, she racked up many of the sport's records, which have yet to be broken:

  • Most consecutive all-star team selections (18)
  • Eight-time MVP in the National Tournament (1961, 1963, 1968, 1971 (co-MVP), 1973, 1974, and 1975)
  • Most victories in a season (42) (in 1974)
  • Two no-hit, no-run games in National Tournament (four times)
  • Shutouts in a season (38 in 1974)
  • Most innings pitched in a game (29 in 1968 against Perkasie)
  • Career doubles (153)
  • Doubles in a season (22 in 1968)
  • Career triples (67)
  • Brakettes team batting champion (1960, 1962, 1967–69, 1973)
  • Highest batting average (.467 in 1971)

Her pitches were extremely fast at over 70 miles per hour. She pitched 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games, with a lifetime earned run average of 0.09. In her record-setting 42-win season, she pitched 38 shutouts. Her 1974 Brakettes team was the first American team to win the world championship.[3]

In exhibition games, she struck out Ted Williams at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1961 (also during a brief stint in 1966) and Hank Aaron in 1978.[2][4]

Coaching career

Joyce was co-founder (with Billie Jean King, Jim Jorgensen and Dennis Murphy) of the Women's Professional Softball League in 1976 and the coach and part owner of the Connecticut Falcons team, which won the Championship all four years of the league's history.

She was a coach at Florida Atlantic University, having coached softball since 1994 and women's golf since 1996.[5] As of 2022, Joyce's Owls team won eleven conference championships and advanced to eleven NCAA Division I softball tournaments.[3] In her first two seasons (1995 and 1996), the Owls were Atlantic Sun Conference runners-up, then won the next eight championships. They took second in 2005, then won again in 2006. The Owls won the Sun Belt Conference championship in 2007, and the Conference USA championship in 2016. Joyce was named Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2002, Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2007, and Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2018.

On March 18, 2022, Joyce earned her 1,000th career win as a head coach, becoming the 27th NCAA Division I softball coach to reach the milestone.[6][7]

Golf

After softball, she joined the LPGA Tour, in which she was from 1977 to 1994.[8] Her best finishes included sixth-place in tournaments in 1981, 1982 and 1984, including a round of 66.[8] Joyce holds the record for lowest number of putts (17) in a single LPGA round, set at the 1982 Lady Michelob.[9]

Volleyball

Joyce served as player and coach in the United States Volleyball Association with the Connecticut Clippers.[citation needed] She competed in four national tournaments, and was named to the All-East Regional team.[citation needed]

Basketball

Joyce played on the USA women's national basketball team in 1964 and 1965[citation needed], setting a national tournament single game scoring record in 1964 with 67 points[citation needed]. She was a four-time Women's Basketball Association All-American[citation needed], and a three-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-America player[citation needed].

Halls of Fame

Joyce was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame in 1983.[10] She was inducted into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame in 1999.[11]

In addition to the National Softball Hall of Fame and International Softball Federation Hall of Fame, she has been inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame, Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hank O'Donnell Hall of Fame, the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame, the Greater Waterbury Hall of Fame, and, as one of only three Americans, the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

Death

Joyce died on March 26, 2022[12] in Boca Raton, Florida.[4]

Head coaching record

College softball

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References

  1. [1]
    "Hall of Famer Joan Joyce Has Passed Away". Florida Atlantic University Athletics. March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  2. [2]
    "HickokSports.com – Biography – Joan Joyce". Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
  3. [3]
    Joan Joyce: the best Ted Williams ever faced
  4. [4]
    McDonald, William (March 29, 2022). "Joan Joyce, Dominant in Women's Softball, Is Dead at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  5. [5]
    "Joan Joyce". FAUSports.com. Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  6. [6]
    "Joyce Adds 1,000th Victory to Legendary Career". fausports.com. March 19, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  7. [7]
    "Joyce Continues to Build Legacy, Adds 1,000th Career Win to Resume". fausports.com. March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  8. [8]
    LPGA profile – Joan Joyce
  9. [9]
    Whitworth sails to new heights
  10. [10]
    "National Softball Hall of Fame Member: Joan Joyce". Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  11. [11]
    "International Softball Federation – The ISF: Inductess/Bios". Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  12. [12]
    "Softball great, ex-LPGA Tour golfer Joan Joyce dies at age 81". ESPN. Associated Press. March 27, 2022.
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