Sharron Backus: Softball

International Sports Hall of Fame

American Softball Association of America

There will only ever be one John Wooden, a respected, modest legend who is considered by many to be the greatest athletic coach of all time. In 27 seasons as head men’s basketball coach at UCLA, Wooden led his Bruins to 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, seven of them consecutive. His teams captured 19 conference crowns and he coached four perfect, undefeated seasons. He is the mastermind of the Pyramid of Success and the originator of some of the most eloquent and intelligent advice for sports and life. ESPN named him the “Greatest Coach of the Twentieth Century” and he has been inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.1 The name “Wooden” is universally synonymous with humble success. Although Wooden is cemented firmly at the apex of the coaching profession, many would be surprised to know that there is an equally successful, female Wizard of Westwood.

Born in 1946, Sharron Backus became interested in sports as a girl growing up in a neighborhood full of boys. Backus says, “I loved the outdoors and I loved physical activity. Playing sports was a way for me to fit and be accepted by my peers. When I went out to play with or against the boys, I had to be just as good as they were.”2 Backus soon developed into an excellent athlete, a fact that was not lost on local California coaches. At the time, opportunities for females in athletics were largely spread by word of mouth and by the ages of 12 and 13, Backus was getting offers to play on teams in a number of different sports. Although her parents never pushed her toward athletic achievement, they encouraged her by providing her with the opportunity to play and follow her own dreams.

During her high school years, Backus was playing softball with the Whittier Gold Sox in addition to competing in basketball, golf, swimming, and volleyball, among other sports. In 1961, Backus helped the Gold Sox to a national title while earning second team All-American recognition. Since Backus’s college, Cal State Fullerton, did not offer women’s athletics, she spent her college years playing for the powerful Orange (California) Lionettes, winning another national championship and again earning All-American honors. By that time Backus had developed into one of the most gifted and dedicated players in the sport and was picked up by an equally legendary and successful team, the Raybestos Brakettes. As a Brakette shortstop, Backus contributed greatly to the team’s success, which included five consecutive national championships from 1971 to 1975.3 Much like John Wooden, Backus elevated herself to the top of her sport as an athlete before beginning an incredible career as a coach.

In 1975, Backus received an incredible offer. Although she had never coached softball, Backus was hired by UCLA to lead the Bruin softball team into a new era in women’s athletics. Backus is still in awe by the offer. “The mere fact that UCLA would give me that opportunity still amazes me. Even though I played for great coaches like Margo Davis and Ralph Raymond, all of my personal coaching experiences were in something other than softball.”4 The chance that UCLA took on an incredible athlete and unproven coach paid unimaginable dividends. Adecorated champion herself, Backus immediately went about inspiring a champion’s drive and discipline in her student-athletes. Together, Backus and her Bruin teams achieved a level of success mirroring that of their counterparts in UCLA men’s basketball during the Wooden era.

Over 22 seasons at UCLA (1975–96), Backus amassed a career record of 854 wins, 173 losses, and three ties, numbers which equate to a Wooden-esque winning percentage of .831. During her tenure the Bruins captured eight national championships, one under the auspices of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and the other seven through the NCAA. The team’s NCAAglory years included three consecutive national titles (1988, 1989, and 1990), 10 Pac-10 titles, 18 postseason appearances, and 15 national top four finishes.

During Backus’s era, Bruin softball produced nine Olympians, including Dot Richardson and Honda-Broderick Cup Winner Lisa Fernandez, 53 All-Americans, and 24 U.S. National Team members. In addition to leading the Bruins to these incredible heights, Backus has been inducted into numerous halls of fame for her outstanding talents as both a player and a coach.5 Looking back, Backus calls her years at the helm of Bruin softball an “unbelievable ride.”6

Backus began and ended her collegiate coaching career as a Bruin. She would later go on to coach professionally and also serve as director of player personnel for the women’s professional league. As a coach, she revisited her previous successes by leading the Orlando Wahoos to a League Championship in her first year season with the league. Her legend only grew stronger.

Although their excellence as UCLA coaches links them together, what is most similar about Sharron Backus and John Wooden is their insistence on growing and encouraging the whole person and their humility about their own achievements. Athletic achievement was important to both coaches, but never at the expense of greater life lessons and the discovery of the true meaning of success. Backus continues to follow that philosophy today, giving these encouraging words to young athletes. “Follow your dreams” she says, putting the emphasis on the individual. “The dreams have to be yours—not your cousin’s dreams, or your uncle’s dreams or your mother’s dreams. You have to really know what that dream is within yourself and then you must work hard to achieve it.”7 This is the greatest gift, the greatest teaching, that both Wooden and Backus have instilled in their student-athletes. It is the gift of opportunity, the gift of courage, the gift of belief. It is the gift of the Wizards of Westwood.

Notes

1. “John Wooden: ACoaching Legend,” Men’s Basketball, UCLAAthletics, http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/ucla-wooden-page.html.

2. Sharon Backus, telephone interview with Catherine Lahey, May 27, 2008.

3. Nena Rey Hawkes and John F. Seggar, Celebrating Women Coaches: A BiographicalDictionary (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000) 9–15.

4. Sharon Backus, telephone interview with Catherine Lahey, May 27, 2008.

5. “Head Coach Sharron Backus,” UCLA 2008 Softball Media Guide.

6. Sharon Backus, telephone interview with Catherine Lahey, May 27, 2008.

7. Ibid.

The previous excerpt was written by Catherine Lahey