Susan Enquist (born August 24, 1957) is a former

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player and coach. She played softball at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

under

Sharron Backus Sharron Backus (born February 12, 1946) is a former softball player and coach. She played as a shortstop and third baseman on seven Amateur Softball Association national championship teams from 1961 to 1975. She served as the head softball coac ...

from 1975 to 1978. She helped lead UCLA to its first national softball championship in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

and became UCLA's first All-American softball player.

Playing career

Her career batting average of .401 was the UCLA team record for 24 years. She also played for the Raybestos Brakettes and helped lead the team to Amateur Softball Association national championships in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1980.

Coaching career

After receiving a bachelor's degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

in 1980, Enquist joined the coaching staff of the UCLA softball team. She was an assistant coach under Sharron Backus from 1980 to 1988. In 1989, she was appointed as the co-head coach with Backus, a position she held for eight years from 1989 to 1996. Following Backus's retirement, Enquist became the sole head coach at UCLA in 1997, a position she held for ten years from 1997 to 2006. Enquist retired from UCLA in 2006. In 18 years as the co-head coach and sole head coach at UCLA, Enquist compiled a record of 887–175–1. Her career winning percentage of .835 is the highest recorded by any of the college softball coaches with 800 career wins. During her years as a player and coach at UCLA, the Bruins softball team won 11 national championships in 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, and 2004. Enquist has been honored with inductions into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006, the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Capistrano Unified School District Hall of Fame in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enquist, Sue 1957 births Living people Competitors at the 1981 World Games People from San Clemente, California Softball players from California Softball coaches from California Sportspeople from Orange County, California UCLA Bruins softball players UCLA Bruins softball coaches World Games gold medalists World Games medalists in softball

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

References