Joan Joyce (August 18, 1940 – March 26, 2022) was the

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 ...

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. She also had set records on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

as a golfer and on the

USA women's national basketball team The USA Basketball Women's National Team, commonly known as the United States women's national basketball team, is governed by USA Basketball and competes in FIBA Americas. The team is by far the most successful in international women's basketba ...

, and was a player and coach for the Connecticut Clippers

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team.Joan Joyce: the best Ted Williams ever faced
/ref>

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. In exhibition games, she struck out

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1 ...

at Municipal Stadium in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

in 1961 (also during a brief stint in 1966) and

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

in 1978.

Coaching career

Joyce was co-founder (with Billie Jean King, Jim Jorgensen and

Dennis Murphy Dennis Murphy may refer to: *Dennis Murphy (Canadian politician) (1842–1917), Canadian businessman and political figure from Ontario *Dennis Murphy (equestrian) (born 1944), American Olympic equestrian *Dennis Murphy (journalist) (born 1946 or 19 ...

) of the

Women's Professional Softball League National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

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 Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...

, having coached softball since 1994 and women's golf since 1996. As of 2022, Joyce's Owls team won eleven conference championships and advanced to eleven

NCAA Division I softball tournament The NCAA Division I softball tournament is held annually in May/June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States, culminating in the Women's College World Series (WCWS), which is played in Oklahoma City. Tournament play and team s ...

s. In her first two seasons (1995 and 1996), the Owls were

Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Div ...

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

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.

Golf

After softball, she joined the

, in which she was from 1977 to 1994.LPGA profile – Joan Joyce
/ref> Her best finishes included sixth-place in tournaments in 1981, 1982 and 1984, including a round of 66. Joyce holds the record for lowest number of putts (17) in a single LPGA round, set at the 1982

Lady Michelob The Potamkin Cadillac Classic was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1968 to 1984 sponsored by Victor Potamkin. It was played at three different courses in the Atlanta, Georgia area. At the 1982 Lady Michelob, Joan Joyce set a tour record by ...

.Whitworth sails to new heights
/ref>

Volleyball

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

Basketball

Joyce played on the

in 1964 and 1965, setting a national tournament single game scoring record in 1964 with 67 points. She was a four-time Women's Basketball Association All-American, and a three-time

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) All-America player.

Halls of Fame

Joyce was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame in 1983. She was inducted into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame in 1999. In addition to the National Softball Hall of Game 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 in Boca Raton, Florida.

Head coaching record

College softball

References

External links

Florida Atlantic profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Joan American female golfers American softball coaches College golf coaches in the United States Female sports coaches Florida Atlantic Owls softball coaches LPGA Tour golfers People from Palm Beach County, Florida Softball players from Connecticut Sportspeople from Waterbury, Connecticut 1940 births 2022 deaths