By Press Services
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. --- The Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA)
and the USA Softball Women’s National team selection committee announced
today the selection of Jay Miller (Starkville, Miss.) as the USA Softball
Women’s National team coach. After leading the 2007 USA Softball Junior
Women’s World Championship team to the gold medal, Miller now will lead
the four-time Olympic medal winning team as they head into the 2009 season.
The USA Softball Women’s National team coaching staff will be selected
from the existing coaching pool and will be named at a later date.
“This a tremendous honor,” said head coach Jay Miller. “I
have been fortunate to work with USA Softball for almost 20 years in one
capacity or another and this is a great opportunity. I have been fortunate
to work with the best softball players in the world and I look forward to
doing so again this summer.”
"Jay brings to the table proven success at the international level, extensive
knowledge of the game and a long history in several capacities with the USA
Softball Women's Program,” said USA Softball Director of National Teams
Ronnie Isham. “I look forward to working with Jay and his leadership
of the USA Softball Women's Program into the future."
“Jay Miller’s selection as the Head Coach of our Women’s Team
will bring a wealth of experience to our Program,” said ASA/USA Softball
Executive Director Ron Radigonda. “All of us at ASA/USA Softball are
fortunate to have coaches like Jay that are committed to our Program and
the development of softball worldwide. I am looking forward to working with
Jay as USA Softball embarks on a very aggressive 2009 schedule to showcase
softball this year prior to the IOC vote that hopefully reinstates softball
to the Summer Olympic Program.”
“Our sport is really at a huge crossroads after the dismissal from the
2012 Olympic Games,” added Miller. “Things are uncertain and it
is an important summer for softball worldwide and the U.S. to get the backing
from the IOC and get the votes to get back on the Olympic Program.”
Miller’s most recent international acclaim came in 2007 when he guided
the USA Softball Junior National Team to the gold medal at the Junior World
Championships in the Netherlands after posting a perfect 10-0 mark in the
qualifier the previous fall. Miller first became involved with USA Softball
during the 1992-96 quadrennium, serving on the selection committee that would
ultimately be in charge of selecting the squad that would compete in the
1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
He served as head coach of the U.S. Red squad that took the gold medal at
the 2001 U.S. Cup, and the USA Elite team that claimed the 2003 Canada Cup
after finishing runner-up a year earlier. In 2004, Miller assisted the national
squad in gold-medal runs at the International Sports Invitational and the
Intercontinental Cup. Miller returned to the Canada Cup in 2005, as an assistant
coach on the U.S. team that brought home the silver medal. The next year
he assisted the Red, White and Blue’s World University Games team to
the championship in Taiwan.
Recently, Miller kicked off his 27th coaching season and seventh in for the
Mississippi State Bulldogs. The NFCA Hall of Fame inductee holds a 935-582
record, ranking him 12th among active NCAA Division I head coaches. Under
his leadership last season, his Mississippi State squad returned to the
postseason for the fifth time in his six seasons at the helm. The 2008 contingent
finished with a 41-22 record, the second-most wins in school history, and
set school records for batting average (.311) and stolen bases (126).
The ‘08 campaign also saw him reach a couple of personal milestones,
as he won his 900th career game with a victory over Syracuse on Mar. 1 at
the NFCA Leadoff Classic. He coached his 1,500th career game on May 3 in
a win over Arkansas, and he surpassed the 200-win plateau at MSU, ending
the year just three wins from becoming the school’s winningest softball
coach.
The success he has enjoyed both on and off the field at the collegiate and
international level earned him a distinguished place among fast pitch
softball’s coaching greats in the National Fast pitch Coaches Association
Hall of Fame. Last December he became just the third SEC head coach to be
inducted into the annals, joining Yvette Girouard of LSU and Joyce Compton
of South Carolina as part of the association’s 18th class.
In addition to his coaching prowess, Miller is a leading authority on softball
technology, having written more than 30 articles for professional publication.
He most recently authored a chapter entitled “Offensive Strategy”
for The Softball Coaching Bible, published by Human Kinetics Press in 2002.
Miller began his educational career at the University of Grenoble in Grenoble,
France, completing his International Studies Program there before obtaining
his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Psychology and Sociology from Illinois
State in Normal, Ill., in 1978. He completed his Master’s Degree in
Education with an emphasis in counseling and personnel services at Purdue
University in 1979.
Miller and wife Lacy Lee Baker, Executive Director of the National Fast Pitch
Coaches Association, have one daughter, Nicole (3-30-91). |
