On Saturday, March 26, Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) softball Head Coach, Joan Joyce passed away at the age of 81. She was the only head softball coach at FAU in school history and in her 28 seasons, she led the team to 11 conference championships, 11 NCAA tournament appearances, and just over 1,000 wins. Along with that, she served as the FAU women’s golf coach from 1996 to 2014 and was a member of the LPGA Tour for 19 years

    Joan Joyce was more than a coach as many consider her one of the best pitchers that softball has ever seen. With 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games, Joyce was a member of 20 Hall of Fames, a 15-time All-American, and a player on four World-Series teams. Her name is in the Guinness Book of World records for the all-time record holder in golf for “fewest putts in a round (17) for the LPGA and PGA.” 

    Most notably, Joyce is known for striking out not one, but two Baseball Hall of Fame Members. At 20 years old, Joyce struck out Hank Aaron and Ted Williams in front of 17,000 people. Williams is the last MLB player to hit over .400 for the season. 

    As a jack of all trades, she also played basketball and volleyball, where she was a four-time Women’s Basketball Association All American. In 1964, she set the national tournament single-game scoring record with 67 points. 

    Joyce is survived not only by her family but by the impact she made on women’s sports. Her domination in more than one sport left a message for all young girls that they can do the same as her. With the FAU softball team hitting 1,000 wins just this March 18th with her, they will be playing in her name