Linda Marie Wells (born December 13, 1949) is an American former

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) ...

coach. She previously served as the head coach for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers softball The Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team represents the University of Minnesota in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I competition. College softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate lev ...

and

Arizona State Sun Devils softball The Arizona State Sun Devils softball team represents Arizona State University in NCAA Division I College softball. The team competes in the Big 12 Conference, and plays its home games at Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. ...

teams.

Playing career

Wells was a three-sport athlete in high school, and played softball, volleyball, basketball, tennis and field hockey while at

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

. She Played professionally from 1975 to 1979, serving as player-coach for the Chicago Ravens and St. Louis Hummers.

Coaching career

Minnesota

Wells started the

program in 1974. She served as the head coach for the Gophers from 1974 to 1989, missing the 1976 season due to attending medical school at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

. She was named the

Big Ten Conference Softball Coach of the Year The Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year is a college softball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding coach. The award has been given annually since 1985. Key Winners Winners by school References {{Big Ten Conference sof ...

in 1988 after leading her team to a 31–25 record and the Big Ten Conference Championship. During her career at Minnesota she posted a 350–264–1 record. She served as the

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minnesota Golden Gophers, Golden Gophers have played in the Big Ten since the conference began sponsoring basketball in 1982. ...

coach for the 1973–74 season, and an assistant coach from 1974 to 1977. She also served as the

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's volleyball Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball is the NCAA Division I women's volleyball team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The program began its first season in 1972 under head coach Dee Jilek. Its current head coach is Keegan Cook, who to ...

coach in 1974, and from 1977 to 1981. Her 1978 volleyball squad won an unofficial Big Ten title and her 1981 squad placed seventh at the AIAW National Championships.

Arizona State

Wells served as the head coach at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

from 1990 to 2005, where she posted a 563–415 record and led the team to 12 NCAA Regional appearances and two

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 and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

appearances. On February 13, 2005, Wells earned her 537th career win at Arizona State, surpassing Mary Littlewood for the most wins in program history. On March 5, 2005, Wells earned her 900th career win. Her 563 wins are the most in Arizona State softball history.

International career

Internationally she served as head coach of the

United States women's national softball team The United States women's national softball team is the national softball team of the United States. It is governed by USA Softball (formerly known as the Amateur S ...

that won a gold medal at the 1985 South Pacific Classic in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

gold-medal team. She also served as the head coach of Greece women's national softball team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and a coach for the

Netherlands women's national softball team The Netherlands women's national softball team is the national team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is governed by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (). It is a member nation of the Confedera ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Legacy

Described as a women's sports pioneer, Wells has been inducted into several hall of fame, including the

National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to recognize sports coach, coaches who have made extraordinary contributions to the sport of softpitch softball. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association ("NFCA") is ...

, Arizona Softball Hall of Fame, St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, Southeast Missouri's Hall of Fame, the University of Minnesota Hall of Fame in volleyball and softball, and the State of Minnesota Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Linda 1949 births Living people American softball coaches Arizona State Sun Devils softball coaches American female sports coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers softball coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers women's volleyball coaches American volleyball coaches 20th-century American sportswomen