Jennifer Yvonne McFalls (born November 10, 1971) is an American, former collegiate

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 ...

, gold-medal winning Olympian

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 current

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

originally from

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas, Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant, and Ellis County, Texas, Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson County, Texas , Johnson county. It ...

. She is head of the

Kansas Jayhawks softball The Kansas Jayhawks softball team represents the University of Kansas in NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I college softball. The team participates in the Big 12 Conference. The Kansas Jayhawks, Jayhawks are currently led by head coach Jennifer M ...

. team She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

as a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. She then went on to represent

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, being named an Olympic alternate in 1996 and a member of the 2000 team that won gold. After her years playing softball McFalls decided to become a coach with her first position as the assistant coach at Texas A&M. Mcfalls continued to coach for many years with several different schools at many different competitive levels. She was the head coach of the

National Pro Fastpitch 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 ...

professional softball team, the

Dallas Charge The Texas Charge were a women's professional softball team based in San Marcos, Texas. The team began play as the Dallas Charge as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) with a game on June 3, 2015. They were initially headquartered in the D ...

for their inaugural season.

Early life

Born in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

and raised in

Grand Prairie Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson county. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a popul ...

,Jennifer Mcfalls at Sports Reference
/ref> McFalls began to play softball at the early age of eight. She was first introduced to softball though her family, as many family members had encouraged her to play. As McFalls came of age, she moved on to more competitive leagues within the Dallas and Fort Worth area. She started to play for a team called the Everman Shadows. In high school, McFalls was a multisport athlete. She played volleyball, soccer, and basketball. Softball was not offered at her school, so she could not play during her high school career. Although McFalls did play in the summer on a select softball team, this is where she was first recruited by Bob Brock at A&M University at the age of 16. McFalls graduated from

South Grand Prairie High School South Grand Prairie High School (SGPHS) is a public high school in the city of Grand Prairie, Texas, United States. It is part of the 36-campus Grand Prairie Independent School District. History South Grand Prairie High School originally opened ...

in 1990.

Collegiate career

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, McFalls started at shortstop for

Texas A&M Aggies softball The Texas A&M Aggies softball team represents Texas A&M University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team belongs to the SEC Conference and plays home games at the Davis Diamond.The Aggies have won two NCAA championships in 1983 and 1987 ...

from 1991 to 1994. She graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in kinesiology in 1997. While there, McFalls was a major component on the women's softball team. McFalls was an All-American shortstop and led her team in batting average all four seasons during her career at Texas A&M. She also led her team in hits, total bases, and slugging percentage. McFalls was named Texas A&M's Female Athlete of the Year in 1994. She was also elected to the Texas A&M hall of Fame in 2001. While at Texas A&M she received the awards for All American 1993, and All- South Region 1st Team during the years of 1993 and 1994.

USA Softball

McFalls started out her Olympic career as the 1996 alternate soon after she became the world champion gold medal winner in 1998. In the following year, she was the Pan American Games winner. From 1994 to 2000, McFalls was a part of the U.S. National team. She played in several of the 2000 Olympic games. McFalls helped score the game winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning in the victory over Japan, winning 2–1. McFalls walked twice and scored two runs in the games overall.

Coaching career

McFalls first began her coaching career as an assistant coach for three seasons at Texas A&M from 1995 to 1997 and one season at the University of Oklahoma, in 1997–1998. After her seasons at the collegiate level, McFalls went on to become the fastpitch softball academy director at Power Alley in Grand Prairie, Texas from 2002 to 2003. Shortly afterward, McFalls took an assistant athletic director and head softball coach position at Hockday School in Dallas, Texas. She spent two years at the school, from 2003 to 2005. McFalls was then offered a position at Midlothian High School, in

Midlothian, Texas Midlothian is a city in northwest Ellis County, Texas, United States. The city is southwest of Dallas. It is the hub for the cement industry in North Texas, as it is the home to three separate cement production facilities, as well as a steel mil ...

, where she became the head coach and assistant athletic director, compiling a record of 139–48 and leading her team to five consecutive playoff appearances. During her time at Midlothian High School, she was also a part of the USA Softball selection committee from 2005 to 2010 and served as the assistant coach for Team USA at the 2010 Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship. McFalls then started to coach for

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in 2010, as an assistant coach under head coach

Connie Clark Connie Sue Clark (born December 20, 1965) is an American, former collegiate All-American right-handed softball pitcher and head coach. Clark began her college softball career at the junior college level before finishing her last two years with ...

. In 2015, she was hired as the head coach for the

team, the

. Clark resigned following the 2018 season, and McFalls did not return to the coaching staff. On August 22, 2018, McFalls was named head coach at

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Statistics

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McFalls, Jennifer 1971 births Living people American softball players American female sports coaches American softball coaches Softball coaches from Texas Kansas Jayhawks softball coaches Texas A&M Aggies softball players Texas Longhorns softball coaches Oklahoma Sooners softball coaches Olympic softball players for the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in softball Softball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics South Grand Prairie High School alumni Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Grand Prairie, Texas Sportspeople from Ellis County, Texas Sportspeople from Arlington, Texas Softball players from Texas Texas A&M Aggies softball coaches 20th-century American sportswomen