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Fastpitch Interview
Nancy Ellis

In 2002, Nancy Ellis received a national softball Coach of the Year award from the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. She earned that award while coaching high school softball in Arizona at Dobson High School. Ms. Ellis is now retired and will begin traveling! She was generous enough to take the time to answer a few questions and share some tips with us. Here's her interview.

I read that you've personally competed nationally in several sports. Can you tell us a bit about what that was like?
Competing nationally has given me the most benefit in the psychology of competition. Everyone today knows how to get the body in shape with training of weights, endurance activities, stretching, etc. etc. (with even more available than when I was competing in the 70's). Everyone today knows about the nutrition involved in having the body perform at its best. Everyone today knows to stay off drugs, alcohol, and smoking. But to have been in the middle of the battle to win some national championships, to know the feelings of winning and losing, to know how to handle the stress in the middle of it all, and to be able to share this with my athletes gives them a big mental advantage in self-confidence and knowing that WHAT COMES OUT OF THEIR MOUTH (in words) ... THEIR BODY AND MIND WILL BELIEVE and follow through with whatever it takes to get it done.

From my understanding, you have a twin, was she also involved in athletics?
No, my twin had polio in the 50's and she does not compete in athletic events. She is now a math teacher at Texas A&M and a great cook. She has a set of twins herself ( a vet and a chemist) and a son who flies F16's in the Air Force.

How did you get started with coaching high school softball?
I played in college at ASU and I'm on the wall listed with the first team ever for ASU (1966...). I also majored in physical education and became a teacher and coach immediately. I love the game. I coaches 3 sports a year for the first 20 years and 2 sports a year for the last 18 years that I taught. And while married to my profession, I also competed in racquetball, badminton, judo, softball, tennis. I competed in every sport available to women in college. I went to college with a tennis scholarship with the love in team sports in my heart.

What would you say was the biggest contributing factor toward your successful seasons?
The kids themselves ... you can do the same thing with different kids and you will get different results. You have to have athletes that really want to learn and try new things. AND IT HAS TO BE FUN. Kids with a great attitude towards life make the best kids to coach. Kids today have enough stress in their life, they don't need the stress of having to win. We set many small goals that may results in a win but will result in improvement. The kids have to want to see other succeed and not be so selfish that they want to be the only one to improve.

Did you encounter irate parents during your high school coaching career?
Everyone will encounter "know-it-all" parents in the high school. They drive some good coaches out of the game and other good coaches crazy. I survived 38 years and it always got worse as the years went on. In the 60's, parents just wanted their little girls to play ball. Then when college scholarships came into the picture, parents thought yelling and screaming would help. Don't be afraid to confront parents in a totally controlled voice with logic and exact orders as to what they are to stop doing either during the game or after practice or whenever the occasion presents itself.

How did you deal with player "attitude problems" as a coach?
I start of with a little 'one-on-one' talk and I also remind them that one person is not going to bring this team down. I will dismiss you no matter how great your athletic ability because I'm in here for the long haul (years, decades) and I don't need the stress. You (the athlete) are in here to get better and move on and play down the road. We have a nice long talk about everything and I usually bring the parents in to help correct the attitude. I also ask who on the team they like the best and can be their buddy in correcting and controlling this attitude problem. Then I work a buddy system to keep the kid reaching the goals that we have set to control attitude. I always bring up parents and what's happening at home, since that always applies.

What were your feelings on players participating in other sports?
I believe that players in high school should experience as many sports as possible. They are still maturing at the joint areas and muscular development and the same exact action all year around will cause injury. Also they need the challenge mentally that other sports can give them. Different muscles being used to keep them in shape ... different activities ... I like my kids to play some individual sports (tennis, badminton, track) if not offered during softball season. No-one should play two sports in the same season. My softball team had to be on the badminton team and they loved it.

What has been your favorite thing about coaching?
If you coach for almost 4 decades, you have some great friendships with students who become adults and keep in touch with you. Even the officials are great friends of mine and it is just fun to see and hear about their families as the years fly by. Other coaches become best buddies and we are drawn close as a family thru sports. With the invention of e-mail, it is cool to hear from my athletes and I have more places to visit than I will have time but now that I have just retired that traveling will begin soon. I had two retirement parties last year with tons of kids that have played for me coming back to say farewell to my teaching and coaching days. Some are lawyers, nurses, coaches, teachers, business owners, and moms.

What piece of advice do you have for other coaches?
Stress mental alertness as that can be controlled by each athlete. Don't even worry about errors as they will always be there. In every sports, the one who makes the least mistakes will win ... mistakes are here to stay. The winner isn't the one who makes the greatest play but the one who has stayed mentally alert and made the fewest mistakes. This attitude helps the kids not to get uptight when they do make an error or they don't get a hit. If you score a 40% on a written test in math you fail. If you hit 400 in softball you are the leader. Look at it in the right perspective when your kids don't get a hit. If you want your kids to get better than do a lot of the basics every single day. KISS IT ... keep it simple stupid. And also keep it fun. Make sure your kids know that grades in other classes are more important than playing time. Some great athletes across the USA cannot play ball because they didn't study or go to class during their first 2 years in high school. Make sure your kids know their role on the team. Also make sure every kid on your team knows two positions to play and knows them well. Kids don't mind strict discipline as long as you treat everyone exactly the same.

I agree that we do quite a bit to train physically. Though we "know" that the game is "90% mental" there's, not a whole lot we do to train mentally or develop a playerıs mental toughness. But I feel that's what separates good players from great players. What do you think?
Yes, good coaches bring in the mental aspects of everything and sports character. We spend time with visualization, pumping each other up, analyzing how we felt at different times during the game and building character and showing it during the game when the opportunity arises. We have a rule ... when you cross the lines (1st and 3rd base baselines or foul lines), your mentally into the game. Does competitive sports build character? I personally think the fair answer is: it depends on the coach. Great coaches, coaches who care about their athletes as people and honor the traditional spirit of sport as the pursuit of team and individual excellence, are inevitably character builders. They are, first and foremost, teachers who measure their success not in victories or records but in their ability to help youngsters reach their highest potential. Sure they teach techniques and strategies, but by their words and actions they also teach vital life skills and virtues like integrity, fairness, perseverance, courage, self-discipline and all the graces associated with good sportsmanship. The people they coach not only become better performers, they become better human beings, people you'd feel comfortable dating your own kid. On the other hand, coaches who have a more narrow view of their role and measure their success primarily in terms of their wins/losses record or by the number of all-star athletes they produce, often do more harm than good. Under these coaches, athletes often become more selfish, self-absorbed, arrogant and unscrupulous in the pursuit of personal glory and achievements. Even the coach wouldn't want to hang out with them. It is no small danger to the future of our society and the welfare of our kids that so many coaches fall into the second category. The recreational and educational goals of youth sports are too often undermined by volunteer as well as professional coaches who are living out their own fantasies or advancing their own careers at the cost of character. Our kids deserve better and it is the job of parents and school officials to see that they get it. The game is bigger than all of us and it's going to be around long after we are gone. Parents and coaches as caretakers of sports, are responsible to try to maintain them for the next generations. This responsibility should not be taken lightly.
http://www.charactercounts.org/
http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/articles/sports/index.shtml

About grades ~ How do you emphasize that. I have players that see their peers stress and struggle trying to make the grade at the end of their high school career so that they can get an offer from a college. Yet they still go and make that same mistake themselves. Can you tell us about some ways that you got this point across to your players?
We reward grades with stars or horseshoes on the helmets, I have college coaches come and speak directly on this topic during practice, Upper classman have study sessions with underclassman if they are not on the right track. We run and do pushups, as a team, when anyone gets bad grades. Peer pressure in reverse. I talk to all of their teachers and keep a check on this. I am the computer specialist at our school and I get to fix teachers computers so they all talk to me anyway about one thing or another. When their grades come below average, they are dismissed from practice to go to that teachers study groups and they don't play until their grades are back up.... just attempting to make them learn early.

When you talk about making sure players know their role ~ that doesn't apply only to starters, it means back up players as well doesn't it?
This applies more to back up players than starters in my mind. It is important that your slapper or bunter who is not a starter and gets put in to lay down the perfect bunt knows her role is more than important. When I put a player in 3rd because 3rd is going to pitch, it is important to be ready to go in and be the perfect 3rd baseman. It is important to know that the 3 innings you will get will determine how we come out in the final score. Yes, starter know their role a lot easier but we talk with them also but we stress knowing your role as a non-starter.

What about parents? If there was one piece of advice you could offer them, what would it be?
Parents, do not put down the program, coaches, or other athletes and only bring up the good things that you kid does on the field during practice and games. Don't drive home after the game second guessing everything or bringing up what you thought was a bad call. If you kid is going to go on in the game, they better love it and enjoy talking to you about it.

As Ms. Ellis said, "AND IT HAS TO BE FUN" ~ her words are part of the inspiration for my new e-book, "Keeping Softball Fun" ~ a simple coach's guide to help bring out the best in your players by keeping the game fun!

Read Nancy's Coach of the Year article at http://fastq.com/~nlellis/coachoftheyear.html

Visit Nancy's website at >http://fastq.com/~nlellis/sbtalk.links.html

National High School Athletic Coaches Association ~ >http://www.hscoaches.org/index.cfm