Darby Cottle Veazey (born September 26, 1961, in

Tifton, Georgia Tifton is a city in and the county seat of Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census. The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has ...

) is a two-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player and one of only two female athletes to have their number retired at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. In her career, Cottle earned some of the highest honors ever given to a female athlete at FSU. In 1982, she was named as recipient of the prestigious Broderick Award for slow-pitch softball. Cottle was later named the amateur softball player of the year for slow-pitch softball by the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

. She was a member of consecutive

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

national championship teams in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and 1982, and was named MVP of the 1981 championship tournament. Cottle was elected to the FSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.

References

1961 births Living people Florida State Seminoles softball players Sportspeople from Tifton, Georgia Softball players from Georgia (U.S. state) {{US-softball-bio-stub