Edward John Dolejs (30 June 1929 – 5 November 2019) was a New Zealand

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. He coached the New Zealand women's team between 1977 and 1991, during which time they won medals at four successive softball world championships, including gold in 1982. Dolejs was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, in 1929, and moved to New Zealand in 1965, settling in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. The women's world champion softball team that he coached was inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall ...

in 1995, and Dolejs himself was elected as a member of the

International Softball Federation Map of member states., 400px, right The International Softball Federation (ISF) is the international governing body for the sport of softball with its world headquarters and training centre at Plant City, Florida. The ISF is a non-profit corpora ...

Hall of Fame, for meritorious service, in 1993. He was also inducted as a Nelson Sports Legend. Dolejs died in Nelson on 5 November 2019.

References

1929 births 2019 deaths Sports coaches from Cleveland American emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand softball coaches People from Nelson, New Zealand {{NewZealand-softball-bio-stub